PHILADELPHIA (AP) – New lawyers for an indicted congressman pledged not to delay his May trial if they lose the latest bid to have the racketeering case dismissed.
A team of prominent Philadelphia defense lawyers made their first court appearance Friday for U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah, a veteran Democrat who parted ways with his previous lawyers after he stopped paying them. The new defense team is from a large firm that said it can finance the complex corruption case through trial.
Fattah, 59, is accused of accepting bribes and misusing campaign funds and charitable grants to enrich his family and friends. The indictment said he improperly steered federal funds to nonprofit groups run by former aides; promised an ambassadorship or other post to a friend who forgave a campaign loan; and steered campaign funds to the repayment of his son’s college loans.
One of Fattah’s new lawyers, Bruce Merenstein, said the team will be ready for a May 2 trial, if the case isn’t thrown out.
The defense lawyers on Friday attacked the racketeering charge as unconstitutionally vague. Several co-defendants also sought to have charges dismissed on that and other grounds.