Jury selection was scheduled to begin Monday in the trial of Sen. Bob Menendez, a Democrat accused of accepting bribes in gold and cash to use his influence to deliver favors that would help three New Jersey businessmen.
Menendez, 70, will be tried in federal court in Manhattan along with two of the businessmen: real estate developer Fred Daibes and Wael Hana. All three have pleaded not guilty. A third businessman pleaded guilty and agreed to testify against the other defendants. The senator’s wife is also accused, but her trial is delayed until at least July.
Opening statements were possible, but unlikely, before Tuesday for a trial that has already brought down the senator’s political stature. After the charges were announced in September, he was forced to leave his powerful position as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
The three-term senator has announced that he will not seek re-election on the Democratic ticket this fall, although he has not ruled out running as an independent.
It will be the second corruption trial against Menéndez this decade. The previous prosecution on unrelated charges ended in a deadlocked jury in 2017.
In the new case, prosecutors say the senator’s efforts on behalf of businessmen led him to take actions that benefit the governments of Egypt and Qatar. Menéndez has strenuously denied doing anything unusual in his dealings with foreign officials.
In addition to charges including bribery, extortion, fraud and obstruction of justice, Menendez is also accused of acting as a foreign agent of Egypt.
Among the evidence his attorneys will have to explain are gold bars worth more than $100,000 and more than $486,000 in cash found in a raid two years ago at his New Jersey home, including money stuffed in the woman’s pockets. clothes in the closets.
The Democrat’s wife, Nadine Menendez, was also charged in the case, but her trial has been postponed for health reasons. She is still expected to be a major figure. Prosecutors say Nadine Menendez often served as a conduit between the men who paid the bribes and Menendez.
The senator’s lawyers in court papers have said they plan to explain that Menendez was unaware of some of what happened because she kept him in the dark.
According to an indictment, Daibes gave gold bars and cash to Menendez and his wife to obtain the senator’s help with a multimillion-dollar deal with a Qatari investment fund, prompting Menendez to act in a manner favorable to the Qatari government.
The indictment also says Menendez did things that benefited Egyptian officials in exchange for bribes from Hana while the businessman secured a valuable deal with the Egyptian government to certify that imported meat met Islamic dietary requirements.
In pleading guilty several weeks ago, businessman José Uribe admitted to having bought a Mercedes-Benz from Menéndez’s wife so that the senator could help influence criminal investigations involving his business partners.
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