(The Center Square) — A New York City jury is deliberating criminal charges against Democratic New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez, accused of accepting bribes in exchange for building his political influence.
Menendez, 70, and his co-defendants, New Jersey businessmen Wael Hana and Fred Daibes, are accused by federal prosecutors in a bribery scheme from 2018 to 2023 to benefit three New Jersey businessmen, including by serving as a foreign agent for the government of Egypt. The senator has denied any wrongdoing and accused prosecutors of targeting him.
Jurors began deliberations on Friday in a Manhattan criminal court after hearing testimony from at least 37 witnesses over nine weeks of court hearings. They returned to court on Monday to continue their deliberations.
Federal prosecutors unsealed a 39-page indictment in September accusing Menendez and his wife of accepting gold bars, cash and other bribes in exchange for wielding his political influence for Egypt and his business friends.
A month later, federal prosecutors filed a new indictment accusing Menendez of acting as a “foreign agent” for Egypt by shepherding billions in military aid that previously had been denied to the country over its record of human rights abuses. Then, a second superseding indictment, filed in January, unveiled new accusations Menendez accepted gifts from the Qatari government.
Federal agents said they found more than $480,000 in cash during a search of his home – some of it in envelopes stuffed into a jacket with his name on it – gold bars and a Mercedes Benz.
One indictment says he sought to sway Democratic President Joe Biden’s choice of a top federal prosecutor in New Jersey to benefit one of his business associates and to pressure the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help an Egyptian businessman preserve a monopoly over the U.S. Halal market, among other claims in the three-count indictment.
Federal prosecutor Paul Monteleoni told jurors in his closing arguments last week that Menendez “put his power up for sale” and abused his position as chair of the influential Senate Foreign Relations Committee and other political connections.
But Menendez’s lawyer, Adam Fee, told jurors this week that the government’s case is based on “painfully thin” evidence and urged them to “resist the temptation to pick the salacious story about a corrupt politician, because it’s not there.”
“There is no text, there is no email, there is no recording, there is no voicemail, there is no photo, that ever shows Senator Menendez taking a bribe in exchange for doing something,” Fee said in closing arguments. “There is none.”
Menendez has refused to step down despite calls from fellow Democrats, including New Jersey Gov Phil Murphy and Sen. Cory Booker. He announced weeks ago that he plans to run for reelection as an independent, if acquitted, which would put him up against the Democratic Party’s nominee, Rep. Andy Kim, and Republican nominee Curtis Bashaw.
This is the second time Menendez has been indicted on bribery allegations while a senator. In 2015, he was charged with illegally accepting favors from a Florida physician, including trips on a private jet, vacations to Paris and more than $700,000 in political contributions.
The case ended in a mistrial after jurors could not reach a unanimous verdict. Following the mistrial, a federal judge in 2018 acquitted Menendez and co-defendant Dr. Salomon Melgen of several charges.
The Justice Department dropped the remaining charges against the senator. He was elected that year to a third term with 54% of the vote, according to New Jersey election results.
