Current:Home > StocksJurors in Sen. Bob Menendez's bribery trial begin deliberations-LoTradeCoin
Jurors in Sen. Bob Menendez's bribery trial begin deliberations
View Date:2024-12-23 20:24:24
Washington — The fate of Sen. Bob Menendez now lies in the hands of twelve jurors, who began deliberations Friday afternoon in the New Jersey Democrat's bribery trial.
The trial, initially expected to last six weeks, will stretch into its tenth week, as jurors left Friday evening without a verdict. They will return Monday.
Menendez, who has pleaded not guilty, is charged with 16 felony counts, including obstruction of justice, acting as a foreign agent, bribery, extortion and honest services wire fraud. He is accused of using his political influence to benefit two foreign governments, while helping three New Jersey businessmen in return for bribes that included stacks of cash, gold bars, mortgage payments and a Mercedes-Benz convertible.
Since mid-May, prosecutors have detailed a wide-ranging corruption scheme in which Menendez allegedly used his influence as the then-chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee to secretly benefit Egypt and pressure a Department of Agriculture official to protect a halal certification monopoly Egypt granted to businessman Wael Hana, who was paying the senator's wife, Nadine Menendez.
The senator also allegedly tried to quash state and federal criminal cases related to former insurance broker Jose Uribe and real estate developer Fred Daibes. Menendez was helping Daibes land a lucrative investment deal with Qatar at the same time, according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors say Menendez and his wife tried to obstruct the investigation after they were initially charged by characterizing some of the alleged bribe payments as loans, which "caused" their former lawyers to make false statements to prosecutors.
A judge postponed Nadine Menendez's trial until August because she's recovering from breast cancer surgery. She has pleaded not guilty.
Hana and Daibes, who have also pleaded not guilty, are on trial with the senator.
Uribe pleaded guilty earlier this year and testified in this trial that he asked Menendez directly for his help, months after he said he handed Nadine Menendez $15,000 in cash in a restaurant parking lot for a downpayment on a $60,000 Mercedes. Uribe made her car payments until June 2022 —the same month the FBI searched the Menendezes' home and found over $480,000 in cash and gold bars worth more than $100,000.
Envelopes containing Daibes' fingerprints or DNA that were seized from Menendez's home had $82,500, Megan Rafferty, a forensic accountant at the FBI, testified earlier this month. Nearly the same amount of cash that was put into circulation in February 2018 or later was found in envelopes in Menendez's basement or his home office, she said.
From 2018 to mid-2022 —the timeframe of the alleged scheme— Menendez withdrew about $55,000 in cash from his account at the Senate Federal Credit Union, according to Rafferty, who said the average withdrawal was about $400. There were no bank or credit card records showing withdrawals of $10,000 — the amount of cash found within a number of envelopes in the home.
Russell Richardson, a forensic accountant who analyzed Menendez's cash withdrawals on behalf of the defense, testified that the senator took out about $400 twice a month between 2008 and 2022. Those withdrawals totaled more than $150,000, he said.
After he was indicted, Menendez explained the cash stockpile as a years-long habit that stemmed from his family's experience in Cuba, before he was born. His older sister testified in his defense that their parents regularly hid cash at home, saying it was "a Cuban thing."
Prosecutors linked the gold bars to Daibes and Hana through serial numbers. The gold, according to Menendez's lawyers, was inherited from Nadine Menendez's family.
"This is a big case, but it all boils down to a classic case of corruption on a massive scale," prosecutor Paul Monteleoni said this week during closing arguments.
The senator chose not to testify in his own defense. His lawyers have asserted the government is prosecuting routine legislative activity. They also have tried to pin the blame on Nadine Menendez, saying she had financial troubles that she did not disclose to her husband.
"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. There is none," his lawyer Adam Fee said this week, saying the government's case is based on "painfully thin" evidence.
Fee asked jurors to "resist the temptation to pick the salacious story about a corrupt politician, because it's not there."
Prosecutors pushed back on the defense's assertion that the couple lived separate lives, showing jurors text messages of the couple sharing mundane details about their day with each other and the senator checking in on his wife's location. They said Menendez was careful while committing the alleged crimes.
"When a sophisticated, careful person like Menendez commits a crime, he doesn't say the quiet part out loud," Monteleoni said. "He doesn't negotiate the bribe payment himself. He has Nadine do that for him. He insulates himself."
Ash Kalmar contributed reporting.
- In:
- Bob Menendez
- New Jersey
- Bribery
- Trial
Caitlin Yilek is a politics reporter at CBSNews.com, based in Washington, D.C. She previously worked for the Washington Examiner and The Hill, and was a member of the 2022 Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellowship with the National Press Foundation.
TwitterveryGood! (9)
Related
- After Baltimore mass shooting, neighborhood goes full year with no homicides
- ACLU warns Supreme Court that lower court abortion pill decisions relied on patently unreliable witnesses
- Maryland woman won $50,000 thanks to her consistently using her license plate numbers
- David Letterman defends NFL's Taylor Swift focus amid Travis Kelce relationship: 'Shut up!'
- Target will be closed on Thanksgiving: Here’s when stores open on Black Friday
- New Jersey Devils' Michael McLeod charged with sexual assault in 2018 case, lawyers say
- Don't miss the latest 'Feud' – between Truman Capote and NYC's society ladies
- Jake Paul will take on Ryan Bourland, an experienced boxer with little name recognition
- Human head washes ashore on Florida beach, police investigating: reports
- Belarusian journalist accused of being in an extremist group after covering protests gets prison
Ranking
- Advocates Expect Maryland to Drive Climate Action When Trump Returns to Washington
- Will Cristiano Ronaldo play against Lionel Messi? Here's the latest injury update
- Legislative panel shoots down South Dakota bill to raise the age for marriage to 18
- How Kieran Culkin Felt Working With Ex Emma Stone
- The Stanley x LoveShackFancy Collaboration That Sold Out in Minutes Is Back for Part 2—Don’t Miss Out!
- Our E! Shopping Editors Share Favorite Lululemon Picks of the Month— $39 Leggings, $29 Tanks, and More
- Who's performing at the 2024 Grammys? Here's who has been announced so far.
- Notorious bombing fugitive Satoshi Kirishima reportedly dies after nearly half a century on the run in Japan
Recommendation
-
Lululemon, Disney partner for 34-piece collection and campaign: 'A dream collaboration'
-
Powerball winning numbers for January 29 drawing: Jackpot rises to $188 million
-
Little-known Democrat runs for North Dakota governor
-
Man convicted in Door County bar fire that killed two people
-
Shel Talmy, produced hits by The Who, The Kinks and other 1960s British bands, dead at 87
-
Sonar shows car underwater after speeding off Virginia Beach pier; no body recovered yet
-
Navy veteran Joe Fraser launches GOP campaign to oust Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar in Minnesota
-
Instant bond: Georgia girl with spina bifida meets adopted turtle with similar condition