Sen. Bob Menendez Cuts Ties With Attorney as Co-defendant's Former Associate Flips
Sen. Bob Menendez cut ties with attorney Abbe Lowell.
Dec. 1 2023, Published 4:30 p.m. ET
Embattled senator Bob Menendez faces a new set of challenges after he and his wife were indicted in October on bribery and conspiracy to act as a foreign agent charges.
While New Jersey voters call on Menendez to resign, the Garden State lawmaker cut ties with his longtime, high-profile attorney Abbe Lowell and hired new legal counsel to represent him as he prepares for the possibility that one of his closest associates has flipped on him, RadarOnline.com has learned.
Sources said they were not surprised to learn Menendez could implicate his wife in his upcoming trial.
As RadarOnline.com reported, federal agents raided Menendez's Englewood Cliffs home in June 2022. Agents uncovered a treasure trove of items, including gold bars and hundreds of thousands of dollars stashed in coat pockets.
Over a year after the raid, Menendez, his wife, Nadine Arslanian, and three business associates, including developer Fred Daibes, were indicted in October on charges of bribery and conspiring to act as foreign agents to Egypt.
While all five denied the allegations, it's being reported that one of those associates has been cooperating with prosecutors.
Menendez claimed gold bars found during an FBI raid were inherited from his late mother-in-law.
According to the Post, Daibes' former associate Gazmend Lita, who donated to the senator's campaign in the past, has been speaking with prosecutors since February 2022, four months before the raid at Menendez's home.
Lita reportedly cut a plea deal with Manhattan prosecutors in February 2022. The deal was made in exchange for Lita's cooperation on undisclosed investigations and pleading guilty to one charge of being a part of an illegal gambling ring.
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Menendez has pleaded not guilty to 16 counts including bribery, obstruction of justice, acting as a foreign agent, and wire fraud.
Lita traded his testimony for three years of probation and agreed to hand over more than $110,000 for his crimes, according to court documents. The associate was previously facing five years behind bars before accepting the plea deal.
Lita's cooperation could mean bad news for Menendez due to his close connection to Daibes, who is accused of bribing the Democrat senator.
Making matters worse for Menendez is that he cut ties with Lowell, who managed to get him out of previous bribery charges.
Menendez cut ties with longtime attorney Abbe Lowell.
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Despite Lowell securing Menendez's acquittal on prior bribery charges, the senator split from the attorney and hired new legal counsel to represent him in the gilded scandal.
Washington-based attorney Robert Luskin will now serve as Menendez's defense attorney. In an ironic twist of fate, Luskin and Menendez share the same nickname, "Gold Bar Bob."
While Menendez was given the title after his home was raided, Luskin earned his title after a past client paid him in gold bars.
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