The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the case.

Timberlake’s attorney, Edward Burke, declined to comment.

The pop singer is set to appear in person on Friday in Sag Harbor Village Court to enter a plea, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney’s office confirmed Wednesday.

Timberlake was arrested in the village of Sag Harbor, on the eastern end of Long Island, on June 18 after police said he ran a stop sign in the village center, veered out of his lane and got out of his BMW smelling of alcohol. The 43-year-old Tennessee native pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor drunken driving charge.

At a hearing last month, a judge suspended Timberlake’s right to drive in New York.

His lawyer, Burke, has maintained that Timberlake was not drunk and that the case should be dropped.

Timberlake was pulled over after leaving a Sag Harbor hotel around 12:30 a.m., according to police.

“His eyes were bloodshot and glassy, a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage was emanating from his breath, he was unable to divide attention, he had slowed speech, he was unsteady afoot and he performed poorly on all standardized field sobriety tests,” police said in a court filing.

Timberlake told the officer he had had one martini and was following some friends home, according to police. He was arrested and spent the night in custody at a police station.

The boy band singer-turned-solo star and actor’s agent and other representatives didn’t immediately respond to emails seeking comment Wednesday.

A 10-time Grammy winner, Timberlake began performing as a young Disney Mouseketeer, rose to fame as part of the boy band NSYNC and embarked on a solo recording career in the early 2000s.

Sag Harbor is a one-time whaling village mentioned in Herman Melville’s classic novel “Moby-Dick” that’s nestled amid the Hamptons, around 100 miles (160 kilometers) east of New York City.

MINEOLA, N.Y. (AP) — A New York man distraught that he was being forced to move from his late mother’s home shot and killed four of his family members before taking his own life, police said Monday.

Joseph DeLucia, Jr. and his family had gathered shortly before noon on Sunday in his mother’s home in Syosset, about 15 miles (24 kilometers) east of New York City on suburban Long Island, just three days after laying the matriarch to rest.

But instead of discussing the planned sale of the home, where DeLucia Jr. had lived his entire life, the 59-year-old fired 12 rounds from a shotgun he’d obtained, killing his three siblings and a niece, according to Nassau County Police Capt. Stephen Fitzpatrick.

DeLucia then walked out to the front lawn of the cul-de-sac street, screamed about what he had just done and turned the gun on himself, he said.

The victims were Joanne Kearns, 69, of Tampa, Florida; Frank DeLucia, 64, of Durham, North Carolina; and Tina Hammond, 64, and her daughter Victoria Hammond, 30, both of East Patchogue, also on Long Island.

Using so-called “red flag” laws, local police could have potentially prevented DeLucia from obtaining a firearm if they were made aware he was dealing with mental health issues, Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said Monday.

He said officers learned only after the shooting that some in the neighborhood were concerned DeLucia might harm himself or others as he had been emotional and distraught following his mother’s death.

Police said Monday his family had assured him they would provide for him after his mother’s death, but that he would have to move elsewhere.

“These are things that are disturbing to us as law enforcement as we open so many avenues to ask us for help,” Ryder said. “We are asking our communities to not sit back. Be our eyes, be our ears and let us know what is happening.”

But while DeLucia Jr. appeared “sad and confused” in recent days, there were no obvious warning signs he would turn violent, said a neighbor who has lived across the street from the family’s home for about a decade but asked only to be identified as Randy.

“We had no idea this was coming,” she said, adding that she wasn’t even aware he owned a gun. “If we knew he was going to do this, we would have said something, of course we would.”

The neighbor said she had been planning to drop off food for the family when the shooting happened Sunday as she often checked up on their 95-year-old mother, bringing her food and even visiting her when she was hospitalized.

The family had gathered at the house ahead of a meeting with a local real estate agent and were also celebrating Tina Hammond’s birthday, she said.

Fitzpatrick said police were still looking into reports DeLucia, Jr. dealt with mental health issues.

The only time police had been called to the residence in recent years was for a wellness check, and there had been no signs DeLucia, Jr. was a danger at the time. His lone arrest was for driving under the influence back in 1983, he said.

DeLucia, Jr., who worked as a local auto mechanic, was also a hoarder and the house was packed with tools and other car repair items, Fitzpatrick added.

“We’re not saying this incident could have been averted,” he said. “But maybe it could have.”

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Editor’s Note: This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org.

The musical nods spun by DJ Cassidy were mostly obvious. Massachusetts went with a punk song about Boston. Kansas picked a song from the band Kansas.

But there were curious picks — like American Samoa rolling out to Lady Gaga’s “Edge of Glory” — and some delegations said they simply didn’t have a say in the matter.

Here’s how each song (likely) fits each state or territory, in order of the roll call:

Alabama: “Sweet Home Alabama,” Lynyrd Skynyrd

Yes, the Southern state picked its most famous name-check, even if the band itself is originally from Florida.

Alaska: “Feel It Still,” Portugal. The Man

Despite the European nation in its name, the rock band is from Wasilla, Alaska, which also happens to be the hometown of former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

American Samoa: “Edge of Glory,” Lady Gaga

The territory’s Democratic Party didn’t respond to an email seeking comment Wednesday but NPR reports this is a “tongue-in-cheek nod to the territory’s position as the southernmost territory in the United States.” So we’ll go with that.

Arizona: “Edge of Seventeen,” Stevie Nicks

The former Fleetwood Mac singer is from Phoenix.

Arkansas: “Don’t Stop,” Fleetwood Mac

The Southern state also went with a Nicks’ hit when it picked this song, which was also famously the theme of then-Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton’s winning 1992 presidential campaign.

Colorado: “September,” Earth, Wind & Fire

One of the original lead singers of the band, Philip Bailey, was born in Denver, where he and other band members from the Mile High City are also in the Colorado Music Hall of Fame.

Connecticut: “Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours),” Stevie Wonder

The New England state’s pick was one of former President Barack Obama’s go-to songs during his two successful presidential runs, but there’s no apparent connection to Connecticut. (Wonder is from Michigan.)

Delaware: “Higher Love,” Kygo and Whitney Houston

The home state of President Joe Biden went with a song that had been a mainstay of his 2020 campaign.

Democrats Abroad: “Love Train,” The O’Jays

The organization acknowledged Wednesday it didn’t have a say in the pick, but said the early disco hit was appropriate, given it has members in more than 190 countries.

Washington, D.C.: “Let Me Clear My Throat,” DJ Kool

The delegation from the nation’s capital went with the party anthem by a native son.

Florida: “I Won’t Back Down,” Tom Petty

The late rock star was born in — you guessed it — the Sunshine State.

Georgia: “Turn Down For What,” DJ Snake and Lil Jon

Atlanta’s own Lil Jon delivered a raucous version of his hit live and in person to the crowd at Chicago’s United Center.

Guam: “Espresso,” Sabrina Carpenter

The island territory went with one of the biggest hits of the summer, though Carpenter was born and raised in Pennsylvania, some 7,800 miles (12,500 kilometers) away.

Hawaii: “24K Magic,” Bruno Mars

If you haven’t already picked up on a theme here, the R&B star hails from Honolulu.

Idaho: “Private Idaho,” The B-52s

The song is by the Georgia band most famous for “Love Shack” and other hits, but singer Fred Schneider told the Idaho Statesman he chose this song title because the state is “pretty mysterious to, you know, all of us.”

Illinois: “Sirius,” The Alan Parsons Project

The British prog rock band’s song was the intro music for the Michael Jordan-era Chicago Bulls, who played in the very arena hosting the convention.

Indiana: “Don’t Stop ’til You Get Enough,” Michael Jackson

Jackson and his famous family were originally from the industrial city of Gary, Indiana.

Iowa: “Celebration,” Kool and The Gang

The band may have been from New Jersey but everyone likes to celebrate good times, c’mon.

Kansas: “Carry On Wayward Son,” Kansas

There was really only one way this pick was going to go — a song from the arena rock band from Topeka, Kansas.

Kentucky: “First Class,” Jack Harlow

The rapper was born and raised in the Bluegrass State.

Louisiana: “All I Do Is Win,” DJ Khaled feat. T-Pain, Ludacris, Snoop Dogg and Rick Ross

New Orleans native? Check. Infectious party anthem? You bet.

Maine: “Shut Up and Dance,” Walk the Moon

Once again, a New England state ended up with a song everyone can sing along to, even if it didn’t have an obvious local connection. (Walk the Moon is from Ohio.) Maine Democrats say their pick of a song from local band The Ghost of Paul Revere was ultimately nixed.

Maryland: “Respect,” Aretha Franklin

The mid-Atlantic state also decided against a homegrown pick when it rolled with a hit from Detroit’s late “Queen of Soul.”

Massachusetts: “I’m Shipping Up to Boston,” The Dropkick Murphys

The de facto anthem of the Red Sox, by an Irish American punk band from the suburbs of the Massachusetts capital? No notes.

Michigan: “Lose Yourself,” Eminem

The hit comes from the Detroit native’s 2002 semi-autobiographical movie “8 Mile,” about a struggling rapper trying to make his name in the city’s hip-hop scene.

Mississippi: “Twistin’ the Night Away,” Sam Cooke

The late soul singer was born in Clarksdale, Mississippi.

Missouri: “Good Luck, Babe!”, Chappell Roan

The Show-Me State went with an upbeat track by the rising pop star, who hails from Willard, Missouri.

Montana: “American Woman,” Lenny Kravitz

The song, originally by the Canadian band The Guess Who, has no obvious connection to the Big Sky State — but the title has everything to do with sending a woman to the White House.

Nebraska: “Firework,” Katy Perry

Perry has no apparent connection to the Cornhusker State, but she’s lent her starpower to the Democratic Party in recent years, performing at Biden’s inauguration. Her hit song “Roar” also featured prominently in Hillary Clinton’s failed 2016 presidential campaign.

Nevada: “Mr. Brightside,” The Killers

Brandon Flowers and Dave Keuning formed the rock band more than two decade ago, in Las Vegas.

New Hampshire: “Don’t Stop Believin’,” Journey

The rock band formed in San Francisco, but we’d be hard-pressed to find an event, rally or game that hasn’t used this song as its anthem.

New Jersey: “Born in the U.S.A.,” Bruce Springsteen

It couldn’t get more obvious than this. “The Boss” is from Long Branch, New Jersey, and politicians from both parties have played his song at rallies and events too many times to count — despite its more subversive lyrics.

New Mexico: “Confident,” Demi Lovato

Lovato was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

New York: “Empire State of Mind,” Jay-Z feat. Alicia Keys

Both Jay-Z and Keys are from New York, the city for which this song is an anthem and ode.

North Carolina: “Raise Up,” Petey Pablo

Pablo, a rapper and record producer, is from the Tar Heel State.

North Dakota: “Girl on Fire,” Alicia Keys

As established above, Keys is from New York, but her song has often been used to celebrate and empower women (including at the Olympics ).

Northern Mariana Islands: “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell

The U.S. commonwealth north of Guam has no apparent connection to Gaye or Terrell, but it is mountainous with several volcanos — and the song choice could be a nod to the journey Harris is on.

Ohio: “Green Light,” John Legend feat. André 3000

Legend was born in Springfield, Ohio. (André 3000 of Outkast is from Atlanta, however.)

Oklahoma: “Ain’t Goin’ Down (‘til the Sun Comes Up),” Garth Brooks

The country singer was born in Tulsa, the Sooner State’s second-largest city.

Oregon: “Float On,” Modest Mouse

The band was formed in Washington state, but is now based in Portland, Oregon.

Pennsylvania: “Motownphilly,” Boyz II Men; “Black and Yellow,” Wiz Khalifa

Boyz II Men is from Philadelphia, where the music video for “Motownphilly” was filmed. Meanwhile, Wiz Khalifa’s “Black and Yellow” is about growing up in Pittsburgh. The titular colors are a tribute to the city’s football team, the Steelers.

Puerto Rico: “Despacito,” Luis Fonsi feat. Daddy Yankee

Both singers behind this 2017 song of the summer are from Puerto Rico.

Rhode Island: “Shake it Off,” Taylor Swift

Swift is from Pennsylvania, but in 2013 purchased what was then the most expensive private home in Rhode Island.

South Carolina: “Get Up (I Feel Like Being A) Sex Machine,” James Brown

The late “Godfather of Soul” was born in Barnwell, South Carolina.

South Dakota: “What I Like About You,” The Romantics

The rock band is from Detroit, not the Mount Rushmore State. Does it matter if there’s a lot to like?

Tennessee: “9 to 5,” Dolly Parton

The country music legend was born in Pittman Center, Tennessee, and currently lives outside of Nashville.

Texas: “TEXAS HOLD ‘EM,” Beyoncé

In case it needs explaining, Beyoncé is from Houston.

Utah: “Animal,” Neon Trees

The rock band formed in Provo, Utah.

Vermont: “Stick Season,” Noah Kahan

Kahan was born in Strafford, Vermont, a picturesque New England town.

US Virgin Islands: “VI to the Bone,” Mic Love

As the song title indicates, the rapper is from the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Virginia: “The Way I Are,” Timbaland feat. Keri Hilson and D.O.E.

Timbaland was born and raised in Norfolk, Virginia.

Washington: “Can’t Hold Us,” Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

Both Macklemore and Lewis are from the Evergreen State.

West Virginia: “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” John Denver

Denver is from New Mexico, but the hit song he wrote with Bill Danoff and Taffy Nivert has long been a symbol of the Mountain State.

Wisconsin: “Jump Around,” House of Pain

The hip-hop trio is from Los Angeles, but their 1992 hit song has been played at University of Wisconsin football games for years.

Wyoming: “I Gotta Feeling,” Black Eyed Peas

The song has no apparent connection to the state but sent a message that’s pretty self-explanatory.

Minnesota: “Kiss” and “1999,” Prince and The Revolution

The pop superstar was born in — and died in — his home state, which he shares with vice presidential nominee Gov. Tim Walz.

California: “The Next Episode,” Dr. Dre; “California Love,” Tupac Shakur; “Alright” and “Not Like Us,” Kendrick Lamar

Harris’ home state picked a medley of West Coast hip-hop anthems — classic and more recent — to close out the roll call.

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Marcelo reported from New York and Naishadham from Washington.

NEW YORK (AP) — Disney is no longer asking a Florida court to dismiss a wrongful death lawsuit on the grounds that the victim’s family had signed up for its streaming service Disney+.

The company filed a notice in Orange County court on Tuesday to withdraw the motion, which had drawn swift backlash when it became public.

Josh D’Amaro, chairperson of Disney’s theme park division, said in a statement emailed earlier to The Associated Press that the entertainment giant will waive its arbitration rights and allow the suit, brought by the husband of a New York doctor who suffered a fatal allergic reaction after eating at a restaurant in Disney Springs, to proceed in court.

“At Disney, we strive to put humanity above all other considerations,” he said in the Monday night statement. “With such unique circumstances as the ones in this case, we believe this situation warrants a sensitive approach to expedite a resolution for the family who have experienced such a painful loss.”

Disney had previously argued that Jeffrey Piccolo could not sue the company because he agreed to settle any lawsuits against the company out of court when he signed up for a one-month trial subscription to Disney+ back in 2019.

Brian Denney, Piccolo’s Florida-based lawyer, said Tuesday that his client will continue to “pursue justice on behalf of his beloved wife” and hopes that their ordeal has helped raised awareness of the challenges people with food allergies face.

He also noted that others seeking to take Disney to court risk facing a similar legal challenge as the arbitration provision remains in many of the company’s terms and conditions.

“The right to a jury trial as set forth in the Seventh Amendment is a bedrock of our judicial system and should be protected and preserved,” Denney wrote in an email. “Attempts by corporations like Disney to avoid jury trials should be looked at with skepticism.”

In a response filed earlier this month, Denney had argued that it was “absurd” to believe that the more than 150 million subscribers to Disney+ have waived all rights to sue the company and its affiliates in perpetuity because of language “buried” in the fine print.

The company, in its bid to have the lawsuit dismissed, argued Piccolo had not agreed just to the arbitration terms in his Disney+ trial, but also again when he signed up for an account on Disney’s website and app in order to purchase the couple’s tickets for their ill-fated theme park visit.

Both sides had been slated to make their case before a judge in Orlando on Oct. 2. That hearing was cancelled Tuesday.

Arbitration allows people to settle disputes without going to court and generally involves a neutral arbitrator who reviews arguments and evidence before making a binding decision, or award.

Disney, in a follow-up statement to The Associated Press last week, said that it was merely defending itself against Piccolo’s attempt to include the company in his lawsuit against Raglan Road, the Irish pub in Disney Springs where the family dined.

Spokespersons for the restaurant didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment Tuesday. Disney Springs is owned by Disney, which leases some of the spaces in the outdoor dining, shopping and entertainment complex to other companies.

Piccolo’s lawsuit claims the family had decided to eat at Raglan Road in October because it was billed on Disney’s website as having “allergen free food.”

Piccolo’s wife, Dr. Kanokporn Tangsuan, a physician with NYU Langone’s office in Carle Place, New York, had a severe allergy to nuts and dairy products, and the waiter had assured them her food was prepared without allergens, the lawsuit states.

But less than an hour after finishing their dinner, Tangsuan had difficulty breathing, collapsed and died at a hospital, despite self-administering an EpiPen, according to the lawsuit.

The medical examiner determined she died as a result of “anaphylaxis due to elevated levels of dairy and nut in her system,” the lawsuit states.

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Follow Philip Marcelo at twitter.com/philmarcelo.

NEW YORK (AP) — Does signing up for Disney’s popular streaming service mean you have agreed to never sue the entertainment giant over anything forever?

That is what Disney argues in a wrongful death lawsuit involving a 42-year-old New York doctor whose family claims had a fatal allergic reaction after eating at an Irish pub in Disney Springs in October.

Disney is asking a Florida court to dismiss a lawsuit brought by Jeffrey Piccolo, the husband of Kanokporn Tangsuan, a family medicine specialist with NYU Langone’s office in Carle Place, on Long Island.

The company argues Piccolo had agreed to settle any lawsuits against Disney out of court through the arbitration process when he signed up for a one-month trial of Disney+ in 2019 and acknowledged that he had reviewed the fine print.

“The Terms of Use, which were provided with the Subscriber Agreement, include a binding arbitration clause,” the company wrote in its motion. “The first page of the Subscriber Agreement states, in all capital letters, that ‘any dispute between You and Us, Except for Small Claims, is subject to a class action waiver and must be resolved by individual binding arbitration’.”

But Piccolo’s lawyer, in a response filed earlier this month, argued that it was “absurd” to believe that the more than 150 million subscribers to Disney+ have waived all rights to sue the company and its affiliates in perpetuity — even if their case has nothing to do with the popular streaming service.

“The notion that terms agreed to by a consumer when creating a Disney+ free trial account would forever bar that consumer’s right to a jury trial in any dispute with any Disney affiliate or subsidiary, is so outrageously unreasonable and unfair as to shock the judicial conscience, and this court should not enforce such an agreement,” Brian Denney, Piccolo’s attorney, wrote in the Aug. 2 filing.

Spokespersons for the Walt Disney Company and Raglan Road, the pub in Disney Springs where Tangsuan dined, didn’t immediately respond to emails seeking comment Wednesday.

But Disney, in its May 31 filing, argued that whether Piccolo actually reviewed the service terms is “immaterial.” It also noted the arbitration provision “covers ‘all disputes’ including ‘disputes involving The Walt Disney Company or its affiliates’.”

Arbitration allows people to settle disputes without going to court and generally involves a neutral arbitrator who reviews arguments and evidence before making a binding decision, or award.

Piccolo’s lawsuit, which was filed in February, claims that he, his wife and his mother ate at the Raglan Road Irish Pub in Disney Springs, an outdoor shopping, dining and entertainment complex at Disney World, on Oct. 5, 2023.

After informing their server numerous times that she had a severe allergy to nuts and dairy products and required “allergen-free food,” Tangsuan ordered the vegan fritter, scallops, onion rings and a vegan shepherd’s pie.

The waiter then “guaranteed” that the food was allergen-free even though some of the items were not served with “allergen free flags,” the lawsuit states.

About 45 minutes after finishing their dinner, Tangsuan had difficulty breathing while out shopping, collapsed and eventually died at the hospital, despite self-administering an EpiPen during the allergic reaction, according to the lawsuit.

A medical examiner’s investigation determined later she died as a result of “anaphylaxis due to elevated levels of dairy and nut in her system,” the lawsuit said.

An Oct. 2 hearing has been scheduled on Disney’s motion in county court in Orlando. Piccolo seeks more than $50,000 in his lawsuit.

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez was convicted of all charges Tuesday in a sweeping corruption trial in which he was accused of accepting bribes of gold and cash from three New Jersey businessmen and acting as an agent for the Egyptian government.

A jury in Manhattan deliberated for parts of three days before finding the Democrat guilty of 16 crimes, including bribery, extortion, honest services fraud, obstruction of justice and conspiracy.

Prosecutor said he abused the power of his office to protect allies from criminal investigations and enrich associates, including his wife, through acts that included meeting with Egyptian intelligence officials and softening his position toward that country as he speeded its access to millions of dollars in U.S. military aid.

Menendez, 70, looked toward the jury at times and appeared to mark a document in front of him as the verdict was read. Afterward, he sat resting his chin against his closed hands, elbows on the table. He vowed to appeal as he left the courthouse.

“I have never violated my public oath. I have never been anything but a patriot of my country and for my country. I have never, ever been a foreign agent,” Menendez said before a collection of microphones before walking briskly to a waiting car.

Menendez did not testify at the nine-week trial, but insisted publicly that he was only doing his job as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He said gold bars found in his New Jersey home by the FBI belonged to his wife, Nadine Menendez. She too was charged, but her trial was postponed so she could recover from breast cancer surgery. She has pleaded not guilty.

The verdict potentially dooms Menendez’s chances of winning reelection as an independent.

The trial’s outcome prompted a chorus of Democrats to call on Menendez to resign, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, New Jersey’s junior senator, Corey Booker, and the party’s nominee to replace Menendez, Rep. Andy Kim.

“In light of this guilty verdict, Senator Menendez must now do what is right for his constituents, the Senate, and our country, and resign,” Schumer’s statement said.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, who would appoint Menendez’s replacement, urged the Senate to expel him if he doesn’t resign. It’s not clear whether Schumer would be willing to hold those votes. Expulsion requires a two-thirds majority. A senator has not been removed from office in over a century.

Curtis Bashaw, the Republican candidate for the seat, also called on Menendez to quit, saying New Jersey deserves better than “corruption and made-for-tv political scandals, courtesy of Bob Menendez and the Democratic machine.”

The Senate Ethics Committee, meanwhile, will complete its own investigation of Menendez “promptly” and consider a “full range of disciplinary actions,” according to a statement from Democrat Chris Coons and Republican James Lankford, the committee’s chairman and vice-chairman.

Menendez faces the possibility of decades in prison. Judge Sidney H. Stein scheduled sentencing for Oct. 29, a week before Election Day.

This was the second corruption trial for Menendez. An earlier prosecution on unrelated charges in 2017 ended with a deadlocked jury.

“This case has always been about shocking levels of corruption, hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in the form of cash, gold bars, a Mercedes-Benz. This wasn’t politics as usual, this was politics for profit. And now that a jury has convicted Bob Menendez, his years of selling his office to the highest bidder have finally come to an end,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said outside the courthouse.

Two co-defendants were also convicted. The New Jersey businessmen, Wael Hana and Fred Daibes, were accused of paying bribes. A third businessman, Jose Uribe, pleaded guilty prior to trial and testified against the others.

Hana’s lawyer, Lawrence Lustberg, said he would file motions to set aside the verdict. The American system of justice “has, in his view, let him down,” Lustberg said. Daibes’ lawyer, César de Castro, also promised an appeal, saying: “We think the result was wrong.”

The trial took place in a federal courthouse a little more than a block from the state courthouse where former President Donald Trump was convicted in May of falsifying business records. The two powerful men were on trial simultaneously for weeks.

The jury’s decision followed a lengthy probe that included a June 2022 FBI raid on Menendez’s home in Englewood Cliffs, a wealthy community just across the Hudson River from New York City. FBI agents seized nearly $150,000 worth of gold bars and $480,000 in cash, mostly in stacks of $100 bills, stuffed stuffed in boots, shoeboxes and jackets. In the garage was a Mercedes-Benz convertible.

Prosecutors argued that the gold, cash and car were bribes. Menendez’s lawyers disputed that, arguing that the gold belonged to his wife and she had kept him in the dark about financial troubles so grim that she nearly lost the home to foreclosure. They said the senator habitually hoarded money because his parents escaped Cuba in 1951 with only the cash they had hidden in a grandfather clock.

More shocking, though, were allegations that Menendez had earned some of the treasure by using his powerful perch on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to benefit Egypt, an important U.S. ally but one often subject to American criticism over alleged human rights abuses.

Prosecutors said Nadine Menendez held herself out as a conduit to her powerful husband, exchanging texts with an Egyptian general and helping to arrange a Washington visit by the chief of Egypt’s intelligence service. To one general she texted, “Anytime you need anything you have my number and we will make everything happen.”

Sen. Menendez, prosecutors said, took actions to ingratiate himself with Egyptian officials, including providing them with information about the staff at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo and ghostwriting a letter to fellow senators encouraging them to lift a hold on $300 million in military aid. The senator also told his wife to let her Egyptian contacts know he planned to sign off on $99 million in tank ammunition.

Prosecutors said serial numbers on the gold bars and fingerprints on tape that bound together the stacks of cash were traced to Hana and Daibes.

Prosecutors said Menendez took numerous actions to benefit the businessmen, including protecting Egypt’s decision to award Hana a lucrative monopoly to certify that meat sent to Egypt met Islamic dietary requirements. Menendez asked a U.S. agriculture official to drop his opposition to the monopoly deal despite concerns it would drive up prices.

Uribe testified at the trial that he paid for Nadine Menendez to get a Mercedes-Benz convertible in exchange for the senator’s help assuring that his insurance business would not be affected by New Jersey criminal probes of a trucking company belonging to his friend.

Prosecutors also said Sen. Menendez attempted to interfere in a federal criminal prosecution of Daibes, a politically influential real estate developer accused of bank fraud. The U.S. attorney for New Jersey, Philip Sellinger, testified at the trial that Menendez questioned him about the Daibes prosecution and said he believed he was “being treated unfairly.”

Prosecutors also presented evidence that Menendez took actions favorable to Qatar’s government to help Daibes secure a multimillion-dollar deal with a Qatari investment fund.

Menendez’s political career began in 1974 when, only two years out of high school, he was elected to the education board in Union City, New Jersey. He later served in the state legislature, then was elected to the U.S. House in 1992. He became a U.S. senator in 2006.

Menendez had the dubious distinction of being the only U.S. senator indicted twice.

In 2015, he was charged with letting a wealthy Florida eye doctor buy his influence through luxury vacations and campaign contributions. After a jury couldn’t reach a unanimous verdict in 2017, New Jersey federal prosecutors dropped the case rather than put him on trial again.

Voters accepted the mistrial as an exoneration and returned Menendez to the Senate.

After his second indictment last summer, Menendez claimed he was being persecuted, saying some people “cannot accept that a first-generation Latino American from humble beginnings could rise to be a U.S. Senator.”

NEW YORK (AP) — Rudolph Giuliani, the former New York City mayor, federal prosecutor and legal adviser to Donald Trump, was disbarred in New York on Tuesday after a court found he repeatedly made false statements about Trump’s 2020 election loss.

The Manhattan appeals court ruled Giuliani, who had his New York law license suspended in 2021 for making false statements around the election, is no longer allowed to practice law in the state, effective immediately.

“The seriousness of respondent’s misconduct cannot be overstated,” the decision reads. Giuliani “flagrantly misused” his position and “baselessly attacked and undermined the integrity of this country’s electoral process.”

“In so doing, respondent not only deliberately violated some of the most fundamental tenets of the legal profession, but he also actively contributed to the national strife that has followed the 2020 Presidential election, for which he is entirely unrepentant,” the court wrote.

Guiliani said Tuesday that he wasn’t surprised to lose his law license in his hometown, claiming in a post on the social media platform X that the case was “based on an activist complaint, replete with false arguments.”

The former mob prosecutor was admitted to the New York bar in 1969, but before pleading Trump’s case in November 2020, Giuliani had not appeared in court as an attorney since 1992, according to court records.

A Giuliani spokesperson, Ted Goodman, said the man once dubbed “America’s mayor” will appeal the “objectively flawed” decision by the midlevel state court. He also called on others in the legal community to speak out against the “politically and ideologically corrupted decision.”

Giuliani’s attorney Arthur Aidala was more measured, saying his legal team was “obviously disappointed” but not surprised by the decision. He said they “put up a valiant effort” to prevent the disbarment but “saw the writing on the wall.”

Giuliani argued in hearings held last October that he believed the claims he was making on behalf of the Trump campaign were true, but the court, in its decision, said it wasn’t convinced.

“Contrary to respondent’s allegations, there is nothing on the record before us that would permit the conclusion that respondent lacked knowledge of the falsehood of the numerous statements that he made, and that he had a good faith basis to believe them to be true,” the decision reads.

Among other things, the court said it found that Giuliani “falsely and dishonestly” claimed during the 2020 Presidential election that thousands of votes were cast in the names of dead people in Philadelphia, including a ballot in the name of the late boxing great Joe Frazier. He also falsely claimed people were taken from nearby Camden, New Jersey, to vote illegally in the Pennsylvania city, the court said.

“These false statements were made to improperly bolster respondent’s narrative that due to widespread voter fraud, victory in the 2020 United States presidential election was stolen from his client,” the decision read.

The disbarment comes amid mounting woes for the 80-year-old Giuliani. In May, WABC radio suspended him and canceled his daily talk show because he refused to stop making false claims about the 2020 election.

Giuliani is also facing the possibility of losing his law license in Washington. A board in May recommended that he be disbarred, though a court has the final say.

He also filed for bankruptcy last year after being ordered to pay $148 million in damages to two former Georgia election workers over lies he spread about them that upended their lives with racist threats and harassment.

Giuliani on Monday asked a federal judge to convert his bankruptcy case from a reorganization to a liquidation, which would mean most of his assets would be sold off to help pay what he owes creditors. At the end of May, he had about $94,000 in cash on hand while his company, Giuliani Communications, had about $237,000 in the bank, according to court documents.

Giuliani is also facing criminal charges in Georgia and Arizona over his role in the effort to overturn the 2020 election. He has pleaded not guilty in both cases.

He’s charged in Georgia with making false statements and soliciting false testimony, conspiring to create phony paperwork and asking state lawmakers to violate their oath of office to appoint an alternate slate of pro-Trump electors.

The Arizona indictment accuses Giuliani of pressuring Maricopa County officials and state legislators to change the outcome of Arizona’s results and encouraging Republican electors in the state to vote for Trump in December 2020.

Giuliani built his public persona by practicing law, as the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan in the 1980s, when he went after mobsters, powerbrokers and others. The law-and-order reputation helped catapult him into politics, governing the United States’ most populous city when it was beset by high crime.

The Republican was lauded for holding the city together after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, when two hijacked planes slammed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center, killing more than 2,700 people.

But after unsuccessful runs for the U.S. Senate and the presidency, and a lucrative career as a globetrotting consultant, Giuliani smashed his image as a centrist who could get along with Democrats as he became one of Trump’s most loyal defenders.

He was the primary mouthpiece for Trump’s false claims of election fraud after the 2020 vote, infamously standing at a press conference in front of Four Seasons Total Landscaping outside Philadelphia saying the campaign would challenge what he claimed was a vast conspiracy by Joe Biden and fellow Democrats.

Lies around the election results helped push an angry mob of pro-Trump rioters to storm the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in an effort to stop the certification of Biden’s victory.

___

Associated Press reporters Karen Matthews and Jennifer Peltz in New York, Michael Sisak in Fort Pierce, Fla., Dave Collins in Hartford, Conn. and Alanna Durkin Richer in Washington contributed to this story.

RIVERHEAD, N.Y. (AP) — The New York architect accused of murdering multiple women and leaving their corpses scattered along the Long Island coast kept a “blueprint” of his crimes on his computer, prosecutors revealed Thursday as they brought charges against Rex Heuermann in two more killings.

Heuermann, 60, appeared before a judge to be arraigned in the deaths of Jessica Taylor and Sandra Costilla, two young women who were long suspected of being the victims of men preying on sex workers. He had previously been charged with murdering four other women in a string of deaths known as the Gilgo Beach serial killings.

Taylor disappeared in 2003. Costilla was killed 30 years ago, in 1993, and her inclusion in the case indicates that prosecutors now believe Heuermann was killing women for much longer than previously thought.

The new charges came just days after police finished extensive searches of Heuermann’s Massapequa Park home and a wooded area on Long Island tied to the investigation.

In a court filing, prosecutors said they were able to use new forensic testing methods to match hairs found on or near the vicinity of both victims to a DNA profile that is a likely match to Heuermann. Additionally, prosecutors say they recovered a file on a hard drive in his basement used to “methodically blueprint” his killings.

The all-caps document features a series of checklists with tasks to complete before, during and after the killings, as well as practical lessons for “next time.” Among the dozens of entries written are reminders to clean the bodies and destroy evidence, to “get sleep before hunt” and to “have story set.”

One section, titled “things to remember,” appears to highlight lessons from previous killings, prosecutors said, such as using heavier rope and limiting noise in order to maximize “play time.” A “body prep” checklist includes, among other items, a note to “remove head and hands.”

Prosecutors believe that entry may connect Heuermann to yet another victim, Valerie Mack, whose partial skeletal remains were discovered near the body of Taylor after her disappearance in 2000.

Heuermann has not been charged in the death of Mack. But asked during a news conference after Thursday’s hearing if he was a suspect, District Attorney Ray Tierney replied, “That’s fair to say.”

Heuermann pleaded not guilty to killing Taylor and Costilla during the hearing and was ordered held without bail. His lawyer, Michael Brown, said outside court that Heuermann is “obviously in a bad place in terms of the new charges.”

Afterward, Tierney said the additional charges provide “some small measure of closure” for the victims’ families.

Since late 2010, police have been investigating the deaths of at least 10 people — mostly female sex workers — whose remains were discovered along an isolated highway not far from Gilgo Beach on Long Island’s south shore.

Those victims had disappeared over a span of at least 14 years. Vexed police officers made only halting progress in identifying possible suspects. Investigators long said it was likely that not all of the deaths were the work of the same killer. Some of the victims disappeared in the mid-1990s. Investigators concluded that an 11th person who disappeared in 2010 from the barrier island community of Oak Beach had accidentally drowned.

Heuermann, who lived across a bay from where the bodies were found, was arrested last July. Prosecutors said a new investigative task force used mobile phone location data and DNA samples to link the architect to some of the victims. He was charged with killing four of the women: Megan Waterman, Melissa Barthelemy, Amber Lynn Costello and Maureen Brainard-Barnes.

Investigators who had searched Heuermann’s home extensively and dug up his yard last summer returned to the house again last month and spent nearly a week searching it again. They focused their efforts mostly in the basement, according to a lawyer for Heuermann’s wife.

That followed a search in April of a wooded area in Manorville, about 40 miles (65 kilometers) east of Heuermann’s home, and in the Southampton hamlet of North Sea, where Costilla’s remains were discovered decades ago.

Tierney said the planning document was recovered in March of this year, providing the impetus for the recent searches.

Prosecutors also said they found a book in Heuermann’s possession by the retired FBI agent John Douglas, “The Cases That Haunt Us.” They say the planning document referenced specific pages in another work by Douglas, “Mind Hunter,” that allude to the personality types of serial killers and profiles of those who use mutilation and sexual violence.

Jessica Taylor, 20, vanished in 2003 while working as an escort in New York City. Some of her remains were discovered in Manorville that year. Other remains were found in a 2011 search of the beach scrub by the side of Ocean Parkway, the road where the other Gilgo Beach victims were found.

Taylor’s mother, Elizabeth Baczkiel, was at the courthouse for Thursday’s court hearing. She held up childhood photos of her daughter but didn’t speak to reporters. Her lawyer, Gloria Allred, read a statement from Baczkiel in which she described her daughter as “loving, compassionate and so funny,” and said she would have made a great mother.

“My darling daughter, you will never be forgotten,” the statement said. “You will forever be in our hearts.”

Valerie Mack, 24, who had been working as an escort in Philadelphia, disappeared in 2000 and was last seen by her family in Port Republic, New Jersey, near Atlantic City. Some of her skeletal remains were discovered that same year in the Manorville woods. More of her remains were found in 2011 in the search around Gilgo Beach.

Initially known as “Jane Doe No. 6,” Mack’s remains had been unidentified for years until genetic testing revealed her identity in 2020.

Costilla was 28 when she was killed and had lived in New York City.

A decade ago, Suffolk County prosecutors said publicly that they believed Costilla had been killed by a carpenter who lived in the area, John Bittrolff, who was convicted of murdering two other women whose bodies had been found on the same part of Long Island. But Bittrolff was never charged with Costilla’s death due to lack of evidence. He insists he is innocent of any murders.

Heuermann’s lawyer, Brown, said he planned to request the prosecution’s files on Bittrolff.

“Quite frankly, the police department and the district attorney’s office all had the finger pointed at Bittrolff for that murder,” he said. ___

Follow Philip Marcelo at twitter.com/philmarcelo.

The livestreaming public art installation known as “The Portal” made its North American debut on May 8, with a circular screen set up below New York City’s iconic Flatiron Building and a companion screen on Dublin, Ireland’s main thoroughfare, O’Connell Street, with city landmarks including the Spire in the backdrop.

Exhibit organizers touted the interactive display as a unique way to “embrace the beauty of global interconnectedness.”

“Portals are an invitation to meet people above borders and differences and to experience our world as it really is — united and one,” said Benediktas Gylys, the Lithuanian artist who conceived the installation, when the screens were unveiled to fanfare.

But just days into a run that was to have continued into the fall, the portals were shut down Monday night after videos spread on social media of people behaving badly — from an OnlyFans model in New York baring her breasts to Dubliners holding up swastikas and displaying images of New York’s Twin Towers burning on 9/11.

The screens, which only broadcast video with no audio, were back up Tuesday morning but were to be powered down again Tuesday evening, according to officials in New York and Dublin.

Michael Ryan, a spokesperson for the Dublin City Council, said exhibit organizers are looking into “possible technical solutions” to address the inappropriate behavior. The displays are expected to return later in the week, he said.

“Dublin City Council had hoped to have a solution in place today, but unfortunately the preferred solution, which would have involved blurring, was not satisfactory,” Ryan wrote, declining to elaborate. “The Portals.org team is now investigating other options.”

Zac Roy, a spokesperson for the Flatiron NoMad Partnership, a local Manhattan business group, stressed the “overwhelming majority” of people interacting with the city’s portal have behaved appropriately. Roy said there’s been around-the-clock security and barriers in place at the New York location since the exhibit launched.

Gylys, meanwhile, didn’t respond to messages seeking comment on Tuesday, but his organization Portals has said it encourages people to be respectful.

“Our goal is to open a window between far away places and cultures that allows people to interact freely with one another,” the group, which also has installed similar exhibits between Vilnius, Lithuania and Lubin, Poland, wrote.

On Tuesday morning, crowds on both sides of the portals were mostly behaved. Some gave a friendly wave or made heart signs with their hands. Most took a selfie.

But on the Dublin side, a man stood behind a crowd of school children in uniform and extended two middle fingers.

Later, a woman on the New York side held up a sign imploring folks in Dublin to join her in a TikTok dance. When the crowd didn’t comply, she did the lighthearted dance anyway, while a friend recorded the routine on their phone.

Killian Sundermann, a 30-year-old from Dublin who was in New York on a visit, held his phone to his ear as he waved and spoke to his girlfriend watching from the Dublin side.

At one point, he approached the security barrier and jokingly attempted to impersonate someone going down an escalator. The Irish crowd didn’t seem amused, so he walked back into the crowd.

Sundermann said many of his countrymen have taken the kerfuffle over the on-camera antics to heart, even as he questioned the wisdom of placing the Dublin screen in such a busy stretch of that city’s downtown.

“I don’t think you could have picked a worse spot for late-night drinking crowds,” he said. “I don’t know what I would have done as a young lad walking past it after I’ve had a few too many pints.”

Joe Perez, a 46-year-old Manhattan resident who held up his sizeable pitbull Virgil for the Dublin crowd to see, shrugged off the bad behavior.

“No one is getting hurt. It’s fine. It’s all peace,” he said. “A middle finger doesn’t hurt me.”

Nearby, Lynn Rakos waved and blew a kiss toward the screen.

“I think it’s sweet, as long as we all behave,” said the 60-year-old Brooklyn resident, who lived for a time in Dublin. “We have all these connections on our phone and Facebook, but here it’s unscripted. You don’t know who is there and you’re just saying hi.”

The livestreaming public art installation known as “The Portal” made its North American debut on May 8, with a circular screen set up below New York City’s iconic Flatiron Building and a companion screen on Dublin, Ireland’s main thoroughfare, O’Connell Street, with city landmarks including the Spire in the backdrop.

Exhibit organizers touted the interactive display as a unique way to “embrace the beauty of global interconnectedness.”

“Portals are an invitation to meet people above borders and differences and to experience our world as it really is —united and one,” said Benediktas Gylys, the Lithuanian artist who conceived the installation, when the screens were unveiled to fanfare.

But just days into a run that was to have continued into the fall, the portals were shut down Monday night after videos spread on social media of people behaving badly — from an OnlyFans model in New York baring her breasts to Dubliners holding up swastikas and displaying images of New York’s Twin Towers burning on 9/11.

The screens, which only broadcast video with no audio, were back up Tuesday morning but were to be powered down again Tuesday evening, according to officials in New York and Dublin.

Michael Ryan, a spokesperson for the Dublin City Council, said exhibit organizers are looking into “possible technical solutions” to address the inappropriate behavior. The displays are expected to return later in the week, he said.

“Dublin City Council had hoped to have a solution in place today, but unfortunately the preferred solution, which would have involved blurring, was not satisfactory,” Ryan wrote, declining to elaborate. “The Portals.org team is now investigating other options.”

Zac Roy, a spokesperson for the Flatiron NoMad Partnership, a local Manhattan business group, stressed the “overwhelming majority” of people interacting with the city’s portal have behaved appropriately. Roy said there’s been around-the-clock security and barriers in place at the New York location since the exhibit launched.

Gylys, meanwhile, didn’t respond to messages seeking comment on Tuesday, but his organization Portals has said it encourages people to be respectful.

“Our goal is to open a window between far away places and cultures that allows people to interact freely with one another,” the group, which also has installed similar exhibits between Vilnius, Lithuania and Lubin, Poland, wrote.

On Tuesday morning, crowds on both sides of the portals were mostly behaved. Some gave a friendly wave or made heart signs with their hands. Most took a selfie.

But on the Dublin side, a man stood behind a crowd of school children in uniform and extended two middle fingers.

Later, a woman on the New York side held up a sign imploring folks in Dublin to join her in a TikTok dance. When the crowd didn’t comply, she did the lighthearted dance anyway, while a friend recorded the routine on their phone.

Killian Sundermann, a 30-year-old from Dublin who was in New York on a visit, held his phone to his ear as he waved and spoke to his girlfriend watching from the Dublin side.

At one point, he approached the security barrier and jokingly attempted to impersonate someone going down an escalator. The Irish crowd didn’t seem amused, so he walked back into the crowd.

Sundermann said many of his countrymen have taken the kerfuffle over the on-camera antics to heart, even as he questioned the wisdom of placing the Dublin screen in such a busy stretch of that city’s downtown.

“I don’t think you could have picked a worse spot for late-night drinking crowds,” he said. “I don’t know what I would have done as a young lad walking past it after I’ve had a few too many pints.”

Joe Perez, a 46-year-old Manhattan resident who held up his sizeable pitbull Virgil for the Dublin crowd to see, shrugged off the bad behavior.

“No one is getting hurt. It’s fine. It’s all peace,” he said. “A middle finger doesn’t hurt me.”

Nearby, Lynn Rakos waved and blew a kiss toward the screen.

“I think it’s sweet, as long as we all behave,” said the 60-year-old Brooklyn resident, who lived for a time in Dublin. “We have all these connections on our phone and Facebook, but here it’s unscripted. You don’t know who is there and you’re just saying hi.”

___

Follow Philip Marcelo at twitter.com/philmarcelo.