Senator Menendez's corruption trial heads to closing arguments

By Luc Cohen

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Prosecutors in Bob Menendez's corruption trial are expected to kick off their closing arguments on Monday, after more than seven weeks of testimony over allegations the once-powerful senator accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes.

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan say Menendez sought to help Egypt secure billions of dollars in U.S. military assistance and aid the business and legal interests of New Jersey businessmen in exchange for bribes of cash, gold bars, and mortgage and car payments.

At the trial, jurors saw gold bars federal agents seized from Menendez's home. The agents also found more than $480,000 of cash, including some stuffed in envelopes inside a jacket bearing the senator's name.

Menendez, 70, has pleaded not guilty to 16 criminal charges including bribery, fraud, acting as a foreign agent and obstruction. His lawyers have sought to shift the blame toward his wife, Nadine Menendez, who prosecutors say he used as a go-between for the bribes.

Nadine Menendez has also pleaded not guilty and will be tried separately starting in August.

The case has likely ended the three-term Democratic senator's political career. Menendez resigned as chair of the Senate's influential foreign relations committee after being charged in September. He is running for re-election to his New Jersey seat as an independent, but is considered a long shot.

At the trial, jurors heard from two New Jersey prosecutors who said Menendez expressed concerns to them in private meetings about the treatment of associates of his under criminal investigation. But neither prosecutor said the senator pressured them or explicitly asked them to do anything improper.

Jurors also heard testimony from Jose Uribe, an insurance broker who pleaded guilty to bribing Menendez. Uribe said he bought Nadine Menendez a $60,000 Mercedes-Benz in exchange for the senator using his influence to shield Uribe's associates from state probes.

Uribe testified that Bob Menendez told him, "I saved your ass," during a 2020 dinner at a New Jersey restaurant, but said he never discussed the car payments directly with the senator.

Menendez's lawyers in their opening statement noted that the gold was found in Nadine Menendez's closet, and argued the two lived largely separate lives. Menendez has also said he has long stored cash he withdrew from banks at his home.

During the senator's defense case, Menendez's older sister testified that their father, a Cuban immigrant, stored cash in a grandfather clock and warned his children not to trust banks.

"It's a Cuban thing," his sister, Caridad Gonzalez, told jurors on July 1.

Menendez declined to testify in his own defense.

Prosecutors are set to begin delivering their closing argument in the early afternoon, likely continuing into Tuesday. Defense closing arguments will follow before the jury begins its deliberations.

(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Noeleen Walder and Alistair Bell)