DAY TWENTY-THREE

Facing questions from defense attorneys, Bob Menendez Senate staffer Sarah Arkin told jurors that meeting with foreign officials was a regular part of the job of the senator from New Jersey, who chaired the Foreign Relations Committee. Joe Catania, an investigator for the Federal Reserve Bank, testified that the FBI asked him to look at currency seized from Menendez’s Englewood Cliffs home.

HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: The prosecution has about six more witnesses left, and then lawyers for Menendez and his co-defendants begin to call their witnesses.

DAYS SINCE THE INDICTMENT: 276

DAYS SINCE MENENDEZ’S LAST CRIMINAL TRIAL ENDED: 2,411

MISSED VOTES: 34
There were no votes in the Senate today.

And in case you’re keeping track: it’s been 43 years and 53 days since a United States Senator from New Jersey was last convicted of accepting a bribe.

AN OFFICER AND A SENATOR
— Egypt interactions were normal work of a U.S. senator, defense argues in Menendez trial from New Jersey Monitor’s Dana DiFilippo: “Richard Gere made an appearance at Sen. Bob Menendez’s federal bribery trial in Manhattan Tuesday. Not in person. Defense attorney Avi Weitzman invoked the actor’s name as an example of all the “private citizens” who meet with U.S. lawmakers and attend meetings with foreign leaders. Gere has met many foreign and U.S. leaders in his advocacy for the people of Tibet — including New Jersey’s senior senator, whom the actor visited in 2018 at Menendez’s Senate office in Washington, D.C. ‘There’s no restriction on private citizens meeting with foreign officials and leaders?’ Weitzman asked Senate Foreign Relations Committee staffer Sarah Arkin. Arkin agreed there is not … ‘They’ve left misimpressions left and right,’ Weitzman complained of prosecutors during a court break Tuesday when jurors had left the room … But Arkin also agreed, under re-direct by Richenthal, that most private citizens who sought an audience with the senator didn’t get it. Instead, she said, his staff typically met constituents.”

STILL TOUGH ON EGYPT
— Menendez bribery trial: Senate staffer on stand for 2nd day of testimony from News 12’s Chris Keating: “On cross-examination, the defense characterized Menendez’s change in tone toward Egypt as a” strategy of quiet engagement. Concerning the alleged military aid for bribes, the defense noted Egypt is second only behind Israel when it comes to getting U.S. military aid, also noting that Egypt is essential to fighting terrorism so it only makes sense for Egypt to gain U.S. weapons. The defense even showed jurors a press release Arkin helped write in 2020 to prove Menendez was still tough on the Egyptian president in which Menendez said, ‘In Egypt, President Sisi has attempted to quash dissent and consolidate control by wrongfully, imprisoning human rights defenders.’ Before the day ended, the prosecution started questioning an investigator with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Joe Catania stated he has degrees in aeronautics, banking, and economics and is also a specialist in money laundering and fraud. Catania was asked to look at the money confiscated by the FBI from the Menendez home in Englewood Cliffs.”

DID BOB MENENDEZ REALLY SIT ON A CAMEL?
— ‘Is There Any Chance He Can Sit on a Camel?’ A Senator’s Wife Wanted to Know from New York Times’ Tracey Tully and Benajmin Weiser: “Ms. Arkin called the Egyptian Embassy in Washington to try to locate the individual, later identified as Mai Abdelmaguid, an Egyptian intelligence officer who had befriended Ms. Menendez. That call set off red flags at the embassy, rattling Ms. Abdelmaguid, who had been quietly helping to plan the couple’s trip to Egypt. ‘Nadiiiiiine, i will probably loose my job,’ Ms. Abdelmaguid wrote to Ms. Menendez in a text message that contained a typo, according to an evidence chart previously shown to jurors … The two women had been texting regularly. Their friendship had begun with a dinner meeting and questions about the best hair salons in Washington. Ms. Abdelmaguid would later ask her to pass messages to the senator. Ms. Menendez also provided information to Ms. Abdelmaguid … In advance of the congressional trip to Egypt, the two women traded ideas for the itinerary “Is there any chance he can sit on a camel in Egypt?’ Ms. Menendez texted Ms. Abdelmaguid. ‘I’m dying for him to be on a camel.’ ‘Of course there is a chance for that!”’ Ms. Abdelmaguid responded. ‘Leave that to me.’”

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