A jury of 12 New Yorkers has begun deliberating in New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez’s (D) federal corruption trial — the second he’s faced in a decade.
The three-term Democrat stood trial alongside two New Jersey businessmen who allegedly traded luxurious bribes for the senator’s political power. A third businessman previously pleaded guilty to several charges and testified against the others.
During closing arguments, federal prosecutors said that Menendez “put his power up for sale,” using his powerful post on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to “pile up riches” for himself and his wife. Defense attorneys, however, contended that the government had “not come close” to proving the senator even accepted bribes.
Last year, Menendez and his wife, Nadine, were accused of agreeing to and accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes — paid in the form of cash, gold, a Mercedes-Benz convertible and other lavish gifts — in exchange for the senator's clout, which prosecutors said enriched the businessmen and Egypt.
Several superseding indictments followed, accusing the prominent senator of conspiring to act as a foreign agent of Egypt, accepting gifts from the Qatari government and conspiring to cover up the alleged bribery scheme as prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York worked the case.
Federal prosecutors presented testimony throughout the nine-week trial that more than $486,000 in cash and $100,000 in gold bars were found in the Menendez’s home by the FBI and showed evidence that Nadine Menendez frequently served as a go-between for her husband and the businessmen.
Jose Uribe, the New Jersey businessman who pleaded guilty, testified that he believed he struck a $200,000 to $250,000 deal with Menendez in 2018 to pressure the New Jersey attorney general’s office to cease its investigation of his friends and family.
Nadine Menendez was charged alongside her husband, but her case was severed from the others after telling the court she would undergo a surgical procedure for breast cancer. Her trial is scheduled for August, and she has pleaded not guilty.
Menendez’s attorneys at times sought to pin the blame on the senator’s wife, contending that she concealed her dealings with the businessmen from him and inherited the gold found in her bedroom during the 2022 FBI raid of their home. The senator’s sister, who testified in the defense case, told jurors that their family routinely stored large amounts of cash after their parents fled Cuba.
The New Jersey Democrat faces 16 charges in total, including counts of bribery, extortion, acting as a foreign agent and obstruction of justice. He has pleaded not guilty and did not take the stand to testify in his defense, telling reporters last week that the government failed to prove “every aspect” of its case and that testifying would “give them another chance.”
Though the New Jersey Democrat once chaired the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he stepped away from the powerful post last year after he was first indicted, in line with Democratic Conference rules. However, he has maintained his innocence and refused calls to resign, instead choosing to mount his reelection bid as an independent.
Menendez previously faced federal corruption charges in 2015, but they were dropped after a jury failed to reach a verdict. He’s one of three congressmen currently facing criminal charges, in addition to Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) and now-expelled Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.).
The Associated Press contributed.
