Democratic superlawyer Mark Elias seemed to be on a rampage this weekend against the Justice Department’s decision to re-try U.S. Senator Bob Menendez on federal corruption charges.
“This is an outrageous decision by DOJ,” Elias tweeted. “The prior trial ended in a 10-2 split for acquittal. An injustice and waste of taxpayers’ money.”
Elias challenged what he called the “Trump/Sessions” Justice Department’s suggestion that Menendez’s lawyers “racialized” his first trial and their criticism that jurors were able to see Menendez and members of the clergy holding prayer circles in the hallway of the federal courthouse.
“Let’s play pretend,” Elias tweeted. “If the Holder/Obama DOJ had said in a court document that Bob McDonnell had “’racialized’ the case by appealing to white jurors, and objected to McDonnell praying with clergy in the hallway, what would be the reaction?”
Acknowledging that the Menendez news has been overshadowed by the federal government shutdown, Elias challenged political leaders to speak up.
“Are folks on the left and the right really OK with this?,” Elias asked.
Elias, considered one of the top experts in ethics, lobbying and gift laws in the nation, has represented Menendez in the past. Last year, a federal judge did not allow him to testify at Menendez’s trial.