By Thomas Anderson
Entering the second week of the Senator Menendez corruption trial a new battle has surfaced related to the identity of a “CHS”, a confidential human source, who provided the government with recordings of co-defendants of Senator Menendez. Attorneys for Menedez are demanding the government reveal the CHS’s identity and any material that could impeach the use of the CHS as a witness in the case. The Menendez team appears to have made this a huge focus, revealing the identity of the CHS, with the hopes the individual has a background that could throw the case into chaos if revealed.
In the first week alone jurors heard the Menendez defense of blaming his wife before announcing she had breast cancer in a midweek press release. Prosecutors countered by handing jurors the gold bars to hold, seized from the Menendez home, along with photographs of cash stuffed in jackets and boots. The lead FBI agent testified the amount of cash stuffed throughout the house caused him to widen the investigation on the spot after executing the first warrant back in the summer of 2022. Reports in the press paint a picture of the Senator eating fries for breakfast while his wife, totally isolated, prepares for a double mastectomy.
According to the latest case filings the “secret informant” Menendez and his team are trying to unmask appears to have a prolific and controversial relationship with the FBI on a myriad of cases. This individual also seems to have a sordid history which the government went to great lengths to keep secret. According to prosecutors the identity of this “secret informant” is so important to hide the government doesn’t plan on calling this person as a witness, or even use any of the recordings made by the informant with Menendez’s co-defendants:
The secret informant apparently has a relationship with individuals in Egypt and revealing their identity would put the lives of FBI assets abroad in danger as well as the CHS himself/herself.
According to the government, a simple revelation of the identity of the secret informant would throw the entire case into a “mini-trial about law enforcement techniques, and the CHS’s situation in particular, including the FBI’s concerns with respect to certain personnel in or connected to Egypt.”
The government has asked the judge to hold off until Wednesday to rule on whether the secret informant will become a major character in the Menendez case. If the filings up to now are any indication the informant has to have a controversial history the government doesn’t want to be introduced into this case. This may be the break the Menendez team was looking for, in an attempt to create so much chaos a jury finds it hard to convict.