DAY TWENTY-NINE
Federal prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney of the Southern District of New York began what could be a five-hour summation alleging that Bob Menendez, the U.S. Senator from New Jersey, “sold the power of his office” and that he was a “bribed man.” The jurors are expected to begin their deliberations later this week.
HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Prosecutors dismissed the idea that Menendez was duped by his wife, Nadine, calling her the go-between and asking jurors not to buy the “blame the wife” defense.
DAYS SINCE THE INDICTMENT: 289
DAYS SINCE MENENDEZ’S LAST CRIMINAL TRIAL ENDED: 2,424
MISSED VOTES: 35
Menendez missed a vote to confirm one of President Biden’s nominees to the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Illinois.
To refresh your recollection: in Bob Menendez’s 2017 corruption trial, the jury deliberated for four days before declaring themselves a hung jury. Ten of the twelve jurors (83%) thought Menendez was innocent. The judge declared a mistrial, the Justice Department dropped the charges, and Menendez was re-elected by eleven points against an opponent who put nearly $40 million of his own money into the race.
And in case you’re keeping track: it’s been 43 years and 66 days since a United States Senator from New Jersey was last convicted of accepting a bribe.
ALL DAY LONG, I’D BIDDY BIDDY BUM
— Senator Menendez ‘Sold the Power of His Office,’ Prosecutor Says from New York Times’ Benjamin Weiser, Tracey Tully, Nicholas Fandos and Maria Cramer: “When F.B.I. agents raided the New Jersey home of Senator Robert Menendez and his wife, they found envelope after envelope of cash, a federal prosecutor told a jury on Monday. Cash stuffed in bags, cash stuffed in the pockets of the senator’s jackets, cash stuffed in his boots. Gold bars worth thousands of dollars. The valuables were bribes that two businessmen paid to the couple in exchange for promises of official action by Mr. Menendez, the former chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the prosecutor, Paul M. Monteleoni, said. ‘It wasn’t enough for him to be one of the most powerful people in Washington,’ Mr. Monteleoni told jurors. ‘It wasn’t enough for him to be entrusted by the public with the power to approve billions of dollars of U.S. military aid to foreign countries.’ ‘Robert Menendez wanted all that power,’ he added. ‘He also wanted to use it to pile up riches for himself and his wife.'”
— Also from Tracey Tully: “Jurors heard from a final witness… Dr. Moustafa Hussein Sayed, who appeared via video conference from Egypt. Dr. Sayed, a veterinarian, explained his work for a halal meat certification company that prosecutors say funneled bribes to Menendez and his wife.”
BOB MENENDEZ AS CHER HOROWITZ?
— Sen. Menendez ‘put his power up for sale,’ prosecutor tell jurors from New Jersey Monitor’s Dana DiFilippo: “Menendez’s attorneys have blamed Nadine Menendez for some of the riches, saying she made deals and took valuables without the senator’s knowledge. They insisted other riches were family heirlooms, gifts from generous friends, and cash stashed by a senator distrustful of banks. But Monteleoni urged jurors to reject those explanations, saying Nadine Menendez acted as a “go-between” to accept the bribes and broker the deals — but that the senator was well aware of the schemes. ‘You don’t get to be the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee by being clueless,’ Monteleoni said. He used the couple’s own words to prove his points, again showing jurors texts between the senator and his wife communicating about U.S. military aid and arms sales to Egypt and meetings with foreign officials soon after the couple began dating in 2018. ‘Why is he texting this to his girlfriend? Why is Nadine getting involved in anything about $99 million of tank ammunition?’ Monteleoni said of one text exchange.”
COMING TO YOU ON A DUSTY ROAD
— ‘He was acting like a bribed man’ — closing arguments in NJ Sen. Menendez ‘gold bar’ trial by Gothamist’s Samantha Max: “Secret meetings with Egyptian officials. Google searches about the value of a kilo of gold. Cash-filled envelopes stuffed into boots and jackets. These are just a handful of the clues that led the U.S. Attorney’s Office to a years-long corruption scheme involving U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez and three New Jersey businessmen, Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Monteleoni said during closing statements Monday in a federal trial against the senator and two of the three businessmen. ‘Sen. Menendez wasn’t acting weirdly. He was acting corruptly,’ Monteleoni said. ‘He was acting corruptly. He was acting like a bribed man, because that’s what he was.'”
THE FBI IS MORE THAN JUST A RING DOORBELL
— Prosecutor tells New York City jury at bribery trial that Sen. Bob Menendez put power ‘up for sale’ from Associated Press’ Larry Neumeister: Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Monteleoni told the Manhattan federal court jury that they’ll be able to trace hundreds of emails and text messages between the businessmen and Menendez and his wife to see the link between the businessmen and the bribe proceeds found in an FBI raid on the Menendez residence in June 2022. He said they’ll also be able to see fingerprint evidence that shows that the businessmen and Menendez were linked to the bribes, including fingerprints on the tape that bound thousands of dollars in cash hidden in coat pockets, boots, and boxes found at the Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, home owned by Nadine Menendez. Monteleoni said the senator ‘put his power up for sale.’ … ‘He also wanted to use it to pile up riches for himself and his wife.”
WHO’S HAVING A WORSE MONTH: MENENDEZ OR BIDEN?
— The prosecutor described what he called a ‘clear pattern of corruption.’ from New York Times’ Nicholas Fandos: “Senator Robert Menendez, the New Jersey Democrat accused of selling out his public office in pursuit of lucrative bribes, “put his power up for sale,” a federal prosecutor said on Monday, the first of at least two days of closing arguments in a historic corruption case against a sitting senator who faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted. The prosecutor, Paul Monteleoni, described gold bars and “envelope after envelope” of cash seized from the home of Mr. Menendez — once the chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee — as evidence of a “clear pattern of corruption” that involved promises of military aid to Egypt and financial gain for two New Jersey businessmen, Fred Daibes and Wael Hana, who are on trial along with him. Mr. Menendez’s wife, Nadine, is also charged.”
THE FALCON AND THE SNOWMAN
— Menendez bribery trial: Federal prosecutors begin closing arguments from News 12’s Chris Keating: “Senator Bob Menendez sat and listened inside a crowded courtroom as jurors again started seeing photos on their monitors of cash and gold found inside of the Englewood Cliffs home the couple shared … ‘His wife Nadine was his go-between, always keeping him informed.’ … ‘The official doesn’t have to take official action, the promise itself is a crime.'”
ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER
— Sen. Bob Menendez ‘put his power up for sale’ in exchange for gold bar bribes, feds say in closing arguments from New York Post’s Ben Kochman: “’Mr. Menendez sold the power of his office to take official action,’ Monteleoni told jurors. ‘You saw, again and again, a clear pattern of corruption.’”
DOES AN ALEXIS CARRINGTON MENTION MAKE ME LOOK OLD?
— Senator Bob Menendez ‘showered’ in bribery payments, feds say in corruption trial closings from Courthouse News Service’s Josh Russell. “’The timeline tells you what happened,”’ Assistant United States Attorney Paul Monteleoni said. ‘When Menendez hears that Nadine can get paid, Menendez springs into action again and again.’ … ‘All the talk of Nadine having family gold is a distraction,’ Monteleoni said. ‘There’s actually no evidence that Nadine had kilo bars of gold from her family.’ … On more than one occasion, Menendez Google-searched the price of a kilogram bar of gold directly after meetings with Daibes. ‘It’s not a coincidence, it’s a bribe,’Monteleoni said.”
POWER POINTS OF VIEW
— How a Last-Ditch Effort to Save Menendez From Prosecution Backfired from New York Times Benjamin Weiser: “Last September, a prominent white-collar defense lawyer met with federal prosecutors in Manhattan in a last-ditch effort to stave off an indictment against his client. The client was Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey, one of Congress’s most powerful members and the subject of a corruption investigation by the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York. In the meeting, the lawyer, Abbe D. Lowell, used a PowerPoint presentation to convey explanations for certain financial payments that were under scrutiny by the government. It was a moment of great risk and potential peril for Mr. Menendez — and the effort failed. Less than two weeks later, prosecutors announced an indictment charging the senator and his wife, Nadine Menendez, with conspiring to accept thousands of dollars in bribes in exchange for political favors. The government later added counts of obstructing justice, saying the senator, among other things, “caused” his lawyer to meet with prosecutors and to make false and misleading statements in an effort to cover up the scheme.”
* Closing arguments begin in Senator Bob Menendez’s federal corruption trial
* Sen. Menendez Sold Power for Gold, Prosecutor Says at Corruption Trial’s Close
* Menendez was a ‘bribed man,’ prosecutor says in closing statement
* Bob Menendez Trial Closing Arguments: ‘Wanted to Pile Up Riches’
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