A current US senator is facing a seven-day trial for bribery charges, including receiving gold bars, cash, and a luxury car, among other things.
According to CNN, these bribes were reportedly given in exchange for influencing US aid and weapon deals with a foreign government and stopping a federal case against a co-defendant.
Bob Menendez, a Democratic senator from New Jersey, is facing 16 charges, including conspiracy to commit bribery and conspiracy to obstruct justice, and has refused to resign.
He intends to demonstrate his innocence and has not ruled out an independent run after the trial.
During an interview with CNN’s Manu Raju on Capitol Hill, he said, “I am looking forward to proving my innocence,” when asked multiple times if he would resign if convicted.
According to prosecutors, Menendez and his wife, Nadine, assisted New Jersey businessmen in obtaining profitable contracts with Egyptian and Qatari officials, and attempted to stop investigations into them and their associates.
The selection of the Jury for the case is scheduled to start on Monday.
Menendez will be tried alongside two co-defendants, an Egyptian American businessman named Wael Hana and Fred Daibes, a New Jersey real estate developer. His wife will face trial in July.
Involvement with Other Countries
The indictment claimed that Hana and Nadine Menendez worked together to introduce the senator to various Egyptian officials in order to help Hana’s company secure US military aid and an exclusive contract.
Prosecutors argued that this contract gave Hana’s company the sole authority to certify US food exports to Egypt as meeting halal standards.
At the time, Menendez, who held influential positions on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, reportedly met with Hana’s contacts in the Egyptian military on multiple occasions and played a role in directing US military sales and aid to Egypt.
Moreover, the indictment accused Menendez of writing a letter on behalf of the Egyptian government to persuade other senators to release $300 million in aid.
In addition to allegedly agreeing to use his position for military sales and financing to Egypt, Menendez is accused of sharing sensitive information with his wife about US Embassy personnel in Cairo.
Prosecutors allege that his wife then passed on this information to Hana, who in turn relayed it to an Egyptian government official.
Furthermore, the senator purportedly applied pressure on an official at the Department of Agriculture to protect the halal certification monopoly obtained by Hana’s company in Egypt. Prosecutors suggest that Menendez’s wife received compensation for his actions.
Prosecutors pointed out that Menendez’s dealings with foreign governments also included Qatari officials.
Reportedly, in exchange for gold bars and other items, Menendez helped his co-defendant Daibes secure a multimillion-dollar investment from Qatari officials for a real estate project.
Investigations in New Jersey
Prosecutors also alleged that Menendez, using his position as a senator, attempted to influence various cases in New Jersey involving his co-defendants.
Menendez had talks with an important prosecutor and tried to support a candidate for the New Jersey US attorney, whom he thought would help drop a case against Daibes.
Because of Menendez’s supposed influence in one situation, New Jersey businessman Jose Uribe and Hana allegedly bought a fancy car for Nadine.
Uribe later admitted to seven charges linked to the bribery plan involving Menendez and his co-accused, and agreed to work with federal prosecutors, including testifying at the trial.
Despite Menendez’s claimed efforts, the indictment states that his attempts to influence were not successful, and the case against Daibes in New Jersey continues.
Alleged cover-up
After search warrants were executed at the Menendezes’ home, where large amounts of cash and gold bars were found, prosecutors alleged that the senator and his wife tried to hide the bribes by paying back the businessmen for the mortgage and luxury car, saying they were loans.
According to the indictment, the couple’s lawyers told prosecutors, based on statements from the couple, that the bribe payments were loans.
Prosecutors argued that Menendez had his lawyer falsely claim he was unaware of the mortgage and car payments initially.
The couple faces charges of obstructing justice.
Menendez’s defense
Menendez’s lawyers have suggested several potential defenses for the trial, including attributing the discovery of 13 gold bars and $480,000 in cash in his home to intergenerational family trauma and a psychological disorder stemming from his father’s suicide.
Soon after being accused of bribery, Menendez told reporters that he had withdrawn thousands of dollars in cash over three decades, citing his family’s history of facing confiscation in Cuba.
The defense lawyers argue that the trauma and loss of his father contributed to Menendez’s development of unusual coping mechanisms stemming from a fear of scarcity.
Menendez may also try to blame his wife, Nadine, whose trial was postponed due to a medical issue.
Menendez’s defense team stated in a court filing that he intended to argue that he lacked knowledge of much of his wife’s conduct and statements, thus negating any agreement to participate in the alleged conspiracies.
