The judge presiding over the corruption trial of Sen. Robert Menendez won’t allow a Hillary Clinton campaign lawyer, who commissioned the controversial dossier that contained unsubstantiated but salacious claims about President Trump, to testify.
The judge refused to let Marc Elias take the stand, saying he would be testifying to hearsay.
Elias, part of Clinton’s legal team during the 2016 presidential campaign, was expected to talk about how he gave Menendez advice about filling out Senate financial disclosure forms, the Washington Post reported.
Two US senators – Cory Booker, a Democratic from New Jersey and Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South – will also testify on behalf of Menendez at his federal trial in Newark, the newspaper reported.
Booker and Graham are close colleagues in the Senate who will speak to Menendez’s character. Graham will be the first Republican to appear for Menendez, a Democrat.
Menendez is accused of accepting gifts from a wealthy donor, Salomon Melgen, that included flights on a private jet and all-expense paid vacations in exchange for helping the Florida ophthalmologist with business endeavors.
Menendez allegedly failed to disclose those gifts on his Senate disclosure forms.
“Graham is testifying as a character witness for the defense and traveled to the trial at his own personal expense,” said a statement issued by the senator’s office, according to CNN.
Booker, who has been friends with Menendez since being elected to the Senate four years ago, said he supports his “good fight.”
“My loyalty is to a guy that is fighting the good fight,” Booker told the Washington Post.
Elias’ appearance in court comes days after the newspaper revealed that he commissioned Fusion GPS to conduct the research that led to the dossier that includes unverified claims that Trump colluded with the Russians during the 2016 election.