The U.S. Department of Justice has indicated it plans to retry U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, D-New Jersey, and West Palm Beach Dr. Salomon Melgen on corruption charges and asked the judge to provide the earliest possible trial date.

The Justice Department signaled its intention in a notice filed Friday in U.S. District Court two months after the first trial of Menendez and Melgen ended in a mistrial.

“An early retrial date is in the best interests of the public, and the United States is available to schedule a retrial at the Court's earliest convenience,” said the notice from Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter Koski to U.S. District Judge William Walls, who presided over the first trial.

That case ended after a juror, who was excused from deliberations due to vacation plans, told news media that the panel was deadlocked. The retrial announcement comes as Menendez gears up for re-election in the fall.

“We regret that the DOJ, after spending millions and millions of taxpayer dollars, and failing to prove a single allegation in a court of law, has decided to double down on an unjust prosecution,” Menendez's office said in a statement. “Evidently, they did not hear the overwhelming voices of the New Jerseyans who served on the jury this fall. Senator Menendez fully intends to be vindicated—again.”

“We are very disappointed that this Justice Department would retry this case,” said Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer attorney Kirk Ogrosky, counsel to Melgen. “Anyone who watched the testimony, reviewed the exhibits, and spoke to the jurors and the alternates in the first trial knows that this prosecution was ridiculous and should never have been brought.”

Prosecutors claimed Menendez used the power of his office to advocate before federal officials on behalf of Melgen's personal and business matters in exchange for campaign contributions, air travel and luxury accommodations. Defense lawyers discounted the notion that Menendez accepted bribes from Melgen by citing the two men's long-running friendship.

The Justice Department's notice comes with a defense motion for acquittal still pending.

Federal prosecutors were widely predicted to face an uphill battle in the case due to the U.S. Supreme Court's 2016 ruling in McDonnell v. United States, which narrowed the definition of “official act” in bribery cases.

Menendez was accused of intervening in a Medicare billing dispute on behalf of Melgen's ophthalmology practice, contacting executive branch officials to discuss regulation of Melgen's port security business and seeking to expedite visa applications for three of the doctor's women friends.

Prosecutors say that between 2006 and 2013, Melgen donated $700,000 to Democratic political action committees, provided Menendez luxury hotel accommodations in Paris and the Dominican Republic, and gave the senator free flights on his private jet and on commercial airlines.

Prosecutors asked the jury to convict both defendants on a “stream of benefits” theory, in which a public official receives gifts or benefits periodically rather than a gift that is linked to a specific favor. Both have maintained their innocence.