Federal prosecutors are making another attempt to delay Sen. Bob Menendez’s corruption trial, arguing that a sudden impasse over resolving a conflict for one of his co-defendant’s lawyers could make it necessary to push its start date two months, from May 6 to July 8.

The request, made in a legal filing Sunday, comes just after judge Sidney Stein agreed to delay the trial of the senator’s wife and co-defendant, Nadine Menendez, to at least July because of health issues, but to keep the May 6 trial date intact for the senator and his other co-defendants, Wael Hana and Fred Daibes.

The letter also reflects a reversal of positions in the timing of the case. Menendez — who initially sought to delay his trial — is now pushing to start it next month while prosecutors are looking to delay it, which they also said they were open to during a hearing last week. Prosecutors, who are seeking the delay in an attempt to avoid splintering the case against Menendez and his co-defendants into multiple trials, asked for a phone conference with Stein on Monday to discuss how to proceed.

At issue is attorney Lawrence Lustberg’s representation of Hana. Lustberg also represents Daibes — an Edgewater developer — in a separate, pending bank fraud case that touches on the Menendez indictment. The senator is accused of seeking to influence the selection of New Jersey’s U.S. Attorney to help Daibes in his pre-existing case in exchange for bribes.

According to a letter, Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel C. Richenthal wrote to judge Stein that Lustberg could shed light “among other things, defendant Robert Menendez’s corrupt intent in selecting individuals to recommend for the position of U.S. Attorney and a phone call from Menendez to Mr. Lustberg that, unbeknownst to Mr. Lustberg at the time, was in furtherance of the bribery and obstruction scheme.”

Richenthal’s letter says prosecutors had been working since March 22 on an anonymous stipulation by Lustberg to be used at trial instead of requiring Lustberg’s testimony, which would avoid potentially disqualifying Lustberg as Hana’s attorney. The two sides, he wrote, agreed that they could argue about the admissibility of Lustberg’s answers later.

But on Friday, Richenthal wrote, Menendez’s legal team told them that the senator “did not expect to agree to a stipulation that contained any facts that he did not agree were both relevant and admissible” and that a Daibes attorney “informed the Government that Daibes wished to reserve the right to elicit additional facts from Mr. Lustberg based on developments at trial,” and preferred to be able to cross-examine Lustberg directly instead of by stipulation.

“In light of the foregoing, it appears that it may be difficult to try all defendants (except for Nadine Menendez, who was severed for medical reasons) together on May 6,” reads the letter, which goes on to request that Stein delay the trial to July 8 or shortly after, “so that all the defendants (including Nadine Menendez, if possible) can be tried together.”

The prosecution suggested that the last-minute rejection is “gamemanship” for Menendez to sever his trial from at least one of his other co-defendants, which he has already unsuccessfully tried to do.

“The Court should not reward further gamesmanship or provide a perceived tactical advantage to one or more defendants charged together with committing crimes together,” Richenthal wrote.

But Menendez attorney Adam Fee and Lustberg both said there was no impasse, with Fee accusing prosecutors of seeking to cause one by suddenly “injecting assertions and language into the stipulation that no criminal defendant would ever accept.”

“What is clear, however, is that the government has ‘manufactured’ this supposed dispute about a stipulation in the hope of causing Your Honor to revisit his rulings and to adjourn the trial,” Fee wrote in a letter Sunday, calling the prosecution’s request a “transparent effort to avoid the production of 3500 material and trial exhibits by tomorrow’s deadline.” (Prosecutors in their letter said they were prepared to turn over the material and exhibits Monday).

“The government has now injected entirely new, and we believe irrelevant and inadmissible allegations into the proposed stipulation, precisely because the prosecutors know that no competent defense lawyer would ever stipulate to these facts,” Fee wrote.

Lustberg in a letter Monday morning also said prosecutors’ claim of an impasse was “premature and inaccurate” and disputed that he might have to be disqualified.

“The prejudice that would befall Mr. Hana should he be forced to use new lead trial counsel at this late date after this issue was known about, raised, and then simply ignored for months cannot be overstated,” Lustberg wrote.

During a hearing last week, Stein said he was alert to “gamesmanship” going on in the case.

Ry Rivard contributed to this report.

A new campaign committee from disgraced former Rep. George Santos raised no money and reported no activity in March, calling into question his plans to return to Congress.

Santos announced last month that he planned to mount a primary challenge to Rep. Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.). He did not qualify for June’s GOP primary, though he theoretically could still run as an independent. LaLota, who represents a district further up Long Island than the one Santos held before he was expelled, was among the Republicans who led the charge to expel Santos from Congress after he was indicted on nearly two dozen charges and a House ethics panel found “substantial evidence” of criminal wrongdoing.

But in a report filed with the Federal Election Commission Monday morning, Santos’ new campaign committee reported no fundraising and no spending, suggesting he has not yet mounted an actual campaign operation.

Santos’ campaign committee from his previous congressional run also filed a report on Monday, continuing to report hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. Its latest report showed only a handful of small donations, while refunding $21,000 to donors.

The campaign committee is among the sources of Santos’ legal woes. He allegedly falsified personal loans to the campaign and charged donors’ credit cards without their permission, according to prosecutors. Santos has denied all charges.

It’s been 18 years since Democrats won a Senate race in Nebraska. Rather than leap into another party-line shellacking, Dan Osborn is trying something else.

The union leader and steamfitter is running for the Senate as an independent, with tacit backing from Democrats who declined to put a challenger against Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.). He’s the third independent candidate in as many cycles trying to consolidate anti-Republican coalitions in deep red states, and he’s certainly got some creative ideas about how to stay at arms-length from the Democratic Party — even if he wins.

“I would like to create an independent caucus,” Osborn said in an interview this week, sipping on a beer in between fundraising events during a swing in D.C. “I know that sounds crazy.”

It’s certainly a long-shot strategy for the 49-year-old Osborn, who follows several other buzzy, albeit unsuccessful, independent runs in red states in the last few election cycles. Al Gross raised nearly $20 million in Alaska and gave a scare to Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) in 2020 and in 2022, Evan McMullin took his independent case to Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah).

Both gained more traction than a traditional Democratic candidate but still lost by healthy margins. That’s partly linked to inherent skepticism in both states of their actual independence from the Democratic Party.

Osborn’s populist positions make his candidacy unique. But his challenge is similar to past independents.

Fischer’s “gonna paint me out to be a Democrat in sheep’s clothing, ‘cause that’s what I would do if I were her. I’m probably gonna get called a communist because I’m pro-labor,” Osborn said. Voters, he insisted, will “realize and they’ll understand that’s not who I am.”

While he’s already raised more than $600,000, he estimates he’ll need around $5 million to be competitive. He’s putting his full-time steamfitter job on pause to leap full-time into the race, though there are obstacles ahead.

“In a state that has no tradition of an independent candidacy, it’s very hard,” said Sen. Angus King (I-Maine). “The hardest thing for an independent is to convince the voters A: That you’re serious. And B: That you have a chance.”

King had a head start before his first Senate campaign in 2012, having already served as governor for eight years. Plus, Maine had an independent governor in the 1970s, which aided King’s rise because “it made it thinkable that [voters] could vote for an independent again,” he said.

The political culture is slightly different in Nebraska, which hasn’t seen an independent senator since 1936, when George Norris won his last term as an independent with some Democratic support. Politics has changed quite a bit in the ensuing 88 years.

“Dan is going to struggle to get traction,” said Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.).

Fischer is close to GOP leaders, makes no gaffes and is a solid fundraiser. Unlike former Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), Fischer’s done little to raise intra-party ire in the Cornhusker State.

And though he’s been an independent since 2016, Osborn’s pro-labor, pro-abortion rights positions are more in line with Democrats than Republicans. In the interview, he said he supports ending the legislative filibuster, “probably wouldn’t” vote for a full impeachment trial of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and supports expanding background checks on firearms sales.

Still, he opposes an assault weapons ban, wants to “close” the border until bipartisan legislation passes and says he would have opposed the 2021 infrastructure law — a bipartisan bill that Fischer supported — because it increases the debt. He says Sasse, a critic of former President Donald Trump, was a “great” senator and regrets that the centrist group No Labels was unable to launch a presidential campaign.

Overall, Osborn is linking arms with Nebraska and national Democrats in the most basic way: A shared goal of ousting a Republican. He said Democrats in his state are “being supportive” and he’s also had some contact with the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, though not a formal endorsement.

Both Ricketts and Fischer will share the ballot in November, possibly along with referendums on both marijuana and abortion. Those complicated ballot dynamics, in Osborn’s view at least, could help break up party-line votes in November.

Fischer is stacking her own labor endorsements while she runs for reelection, though Republicans do not seem worried about Osborn at this point. In a statement, Fischer described Osborn as “totally out of step with Nebraskans.”

“He supports abortion without limits, wants to legalize drugs, and in his own words he said he has no idea what farmers or ranchers do. And he wants to represent Nebraska in the U.S. Senate — seriously?” she said.

Osborn responded: “There’s no one like me in Washington who understands how farmers and workers are getting a raw deal from our country club U.S. Senate.”

Ticket-splitting is only getting tougher and Osborn will need a large percentage of Trump voters’ support as well as pretty much every Democrat and centrist in the state. He said he might vote for an independent for president — but is not familiar enough with RFK Jr. to comment on his candidacy.

He indicated his presidential preference would be a last-minute decision: “I probably won’t know who I’m voting for until I’m driving to the polls.”

BOSTON — Crypto executives are finding a new investment opportunity: The long shot GOP rival to their industry’s chief critic in Congress, Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

More than half a dozen cryptocurrency executives and prominent enthusiasts have donated to John Deaton, a political no-name who achieved folk-hero-like status in the crypto community for battling the SEC in a landmark crypto case last year. He moved to Massachusetts in January and registered as a Republican to take on Warren.

Deaton has virtually no chance of unseating Warren in deep-blue Massachusetts. But that’s not stopping crypto proponents from personally spending to boost him — and potentially blunt their Capitol Hill adversary.

The donations come from industry boosters including Anthony Scaramucci, the Winklevoss twins and executives at the crypto firm Ripple.

“Elizabeth Warren represents all of the worst things about American politicians,” said Scaramucci, a one-time Trump White House communications director who founded the investment firm Skybridge Capital. “It’s no longer about what’s right or wrong for the country, but what’s hard left. So we’re going to work our hardest to spend as much money as we can and raise as much money as we can to defeat her.”

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and the company’s executive chair and co-founder, Chris Larsen, both plunked down the maximum contribution of $6,600 — half for the primary, half for the general election, according to Deaton’s campaign. Deaton’s amicus brief in the SEC’s enforcement case against the company helped build his notoriety in the crypto world.

Scaramucci, the crypto evangelist who recently hosted Deaton on his podcast, also maxed out to Deaton.

Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, who co-founded the embattled crypto exchange Gemini, shelled out $6,600 apiece. Two other crypto executives, Ethereum and Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson and Casa co-founder Jameson Lopp, both donated the primary maximum of $3,300, according to data provided by Deaton’s campaign.

Deaton has also been endorsed by Mark Cuban, who has criticized the SEC’s approach to crypto enforcement, and Perianne Boring, the founder and chief executive of the Chamber of Digital Commerce that represents the blockchain industry, his campaign said.

The donations come as the crypto industry is in the midst of a high-dollar effort to sway the 2024 elections in its favor. A network of crypto super PACs that began the year with more than $80 million in the bank has spent millions boosting industry allies and eliminating potential critics. Ripple and the Winklevoss twins are major backers of the PAC group, which includes Fairshake, Defend American Jobs and Protect Progress.

The crypto PAC group has said its next targets include the high-profile Senate races in Ohio and Montana, where Democratic Sens. Sherrod Brown and Jon Tester — both crypto skeptics — are facing tough reelections in states won by former President Donald Trump in 2020.

The elections carry high stakes for the crypto industry, which is pushing hard for legislation that would help legitimize digital assets and overhaul how they are regulated.

And Warren, a leading crypto skeptic, is a prime target. Massachusetts’ senior senator has staunchly opposed industry-backed legislation and pushed instead for a regulatory crackdown that would strengthen anti-money laundering rules.

Deaton, a former Marine who opened a law firm in Rhode Island representing asbestos victims, isn’t explicitly running on his crypto advocacy. But as Warren continues her attempts to strengthen oversight of the industry, Deaton is turning her efforts into a campaign cudgel. He bashed Warren this week for coming out against an effort in the House to pass legislation that would create a regulatory framework for stablecoins, cryptocurrencies that are pegged to assets like the U.S. dollar. Warren had cited concerns about illicit finance and warned that stablecoins pose a risk to the U.S. financial system.

Still, tens of thousands of dollars from the crypto world won’t be nearly enough to sustain Deaton in his battle against Warren. Deaton loaned himself $1 million of the $1.3 million he’ll report raising in the first six weeks of his bid, and has roughly $1.2 million in cash on hand. Warren, a former presidential candidate and champion of progressive causes nationally, raised more than $1.1 million from 29,622 donors in the first quarter of the year, with 99 percent of those contributions coming in at $100 or less. A fundraising juggernaut, she has more than $4.4 million stashed in her campaign coffers, according to her campaign.

Warren’s campaign said in a prepared statement that her reelection effort is fueled by small-dollar donors, “not by special interests trying to elevate candidates. She is running on her strong track record of delivering big wins for working families, including student debt relief and more than $50 billion in federal investment for Massachusetts.”

And while Deaton is benefiting from both his crypto backing and from his ties to Republican Charlie Baker’s orbit — one of the architects of his campaign is a longtime political adviser to the highly popular former governor, and his finance and polling consultants are also alums of Baker’s political operation — he remains a relative unknown outside of those activist circles. He has never run for public office before.

He may also face a primary challenger from within the crypto community. Ian Cain, the president of the Quincy City Council just south of Boston and a blockchain enthusiast who co-founded the tech incubator QUBIC Labs, has filed paperwork to run for the seat as a Republican. Cain is currently attempting to collect enough signatures to get on the ballot.