NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JUNE 11: Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) arrives for trial at Manhattan Federal Court on June 11, 2024 in New York City. Jose Uribe, who is cooperating with federal prosecutors in their case against Menendez, testified on Monday. He will continue his testimony regarding a backyard meeting with the senator in September 2019. Menendez along with his wife Nadine are facing bribery charges. The indictment is the second in eight years against Menendez. The indictment also includes charges for Wael Hana, Fred Daibes, and Uribe who are cooperating with federal prosecutors in hopes of a lenient sentence. Nadine Menendez's trial is expected to take place later this summer. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
Nine weeks after it started, the federal bribery trial of Sen. Bob Menendez is finally headed to the weary jury, with deliberations expected to start at the federal courthouse in Manhattan by midday Friday.
Judge Sidney H. Stein began instructing jurors Thursday afternoon, after prosecutor Daniel Richenthal — in a fiery rebuttal to defense summations — urged jurors to convict New Jersey’s senior senator and his two codefendants for their “truly egregious betrayal” of the public’s trust.
“Let’s just look at this for a minute – a sitting U.S. senator is giving sensitive information to a foreign government through his girlfriend!” Richenthal said. “Menendez didn’t become a senator last year. Do you honestly think he thought this was no big deal?”
Richenthal’s rebuttal ran most of the day — longer than anticipated, just like the rest of the trial. Stein had told jurors in May, when they were first seated, the trial likely would end in six to eight weeks.
But the accusations against Menendez, a Democrat, cover five years, implicate five total defendants, and involve 18 criminal counts, two Arab countries, and hundreds of thousands of dollars in alleged bribes. Jurors heard testimony from more than 30 witnesses and considered countless pieces of evidence.
Bitter clashes between prosecutors and defense attorneys, both in written filings and in court outside jurors’ earshot, dragged out proceedings and prompted regular rebukes from the beleaguered judge.
Thursday was no different, with attorneys accusing each other of “dirty tricks” during a jury break and defense attorney Adam Fee asking if he could rebut Richenthal’s rebuttal. Stein said no.
Richenthal bashed defense attorneys during his rebuttal for “misstating evidence” when they offered innocent explanations during closing arguments for their clients’ actions — in short, that codefendants Wael Hana and Fred Daibes gave generous gifts to Menendez and his wife, Nadine, and that the senator in turn acted to help their businesses because they were good friends.
“That makes no sense at all,” Richenthal repeated of defense attorneys’ various explanations.
He singled out the senator’s “blame-my-wife defense,” in which he claimed he didn’t know his wife was taking money and making deals, as especially unbelievable.
“You learned a lot about Nadine Menendez. Now, I’m not trying to make fun of her. But does she strike you as a diabolical genius who concocted a plan with Menendez’s friend and Wael Hana to dupe him for five years, including when they’re living together?” Richenthal said. “Do you think she could have pulled that off if she tried?”
The senator was not a victim, as his defense team has suggested, he added.
“He knows all about the payments. He’s taking actions. He’s part of it,” Richenthal said.
All three defendants’ attorneys urged jurors to beware of “gaps in evidence” where prosecutors said they could make inferences to draw conclusions, saying prosecutors expected them to instead “speculate” and “assume the worst.” Law allows juries to make “reasonable inferences,” like seeing someone come inside with a wet umbrella and concluding that it’s raining outside.
Richenthal attacked back in his rebuttal, exhorting jurors to remember all the evidence and testimony they’ve heard so far.
“It’s not like seeing one wet umbrella,” Richenthal said. “It’s like seeing a room full of wet umbrellas and seeing people with wet shoes and hearing thunder behind you. The evidence is clear.”
Menendez, 70, left court Thursday without stopping to talk to reporters, as he often does. He faces decades in prison if convicted of charges that include bribery, extortion, honest services fraud, conspiracy, and obstruction of justice.
Prosecutors also charged Nadine Menendez, but she has not joined the rotating roster of relatives who have attended court since May to support the senator and his codefendants.
She asked Stein to postpone her trial because she needed medical treatment for breast cancer. Last month, Stein ordered her attorneys to provide an update on her medical condition by July 3. They did not, according to an order Stein issued Thursday, so he set a new deadline of July 17 for them to comply.
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