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The trial of Senator Robert Menendez was paused on Thursday after the judge announced that one of the senator’s co-defendants, Fred Daibes, a New Jersey real estate developer, had tested positive for Covid-19. The judge, Sidney H. Stein, said it was “the expectation and the hope of the court” that the trial could resume Monday, given revised federal Covid guidelines and depending on how quickly Mr. Daibes begins to recover. Mr. Daibes is on trial with the senator and another defendant in a sprawling bribery conspiracy case in which prosecutors say Mr. Menendez, 70, and his wife, Nadine Menendez, 57, accepted gold, cash and a luxury car in exchange for the senator’s agreeing to dispense political favors at home and abroad. Ms. Menendez’s trial was postponed until at least August because she is being treated for breast cancer. All four defendants have pleaded not guilty.
Persons: Robert Menendez, Fred Daibes, Sidney H, Stein, Daibes, Menendez, Nadine Menendez, Menendez’s Organizations: Disease Control Locations: New Jersey
Jose Uribe, a star government witness with a checkered past, is expected to testify on Tuesday for a third day at Senator Robert Menendez’s bribery trial as the focus of the proceeding shifts toward a series of face-to-face meetings that Mr. Uribe had with the senator. Mr. Uribe, who has pleaded guilty to conspiring to bribe Mr. Menendez with a Mercedes-Benz, is likely to face hours of cross-examination by defense lawyers about at least one element that was missing from his direct testimony: any discussion with the senator of a payoff. “I never talked to Mr. Menendez about making payments for the car,” Mr. Uribe said in court on Monday. Mr. Uribe’s testimony did reveal two private meetings with the senator that were not mentioned in a federal indictment against Mr. Menendez.
Persons: Jose Uribe, Robert Menendez’s, Uribe, Menendez, Mr, Uribe’s Organizations: Benz
Jose Uribe, the businessman who has said he bribed Senator Robert Menendez in return for his help in quashing a criminal investigation involving two people close to him, testified on Monday that he had asked the senator directly for his help and that Mr. Menendez had said he would “look into it.”Mr. Uribe said that on Sept. 5, 2019, the night before Mr. Menendez met with New Jersey’s attorney general to discuss the matter, he was invited to the senator’s girlfriend’s home in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., where he and Mr. Menendez sat on a backyard patio, with the senator smoking a cigar. Mr. Menendez rang a little bell that he had on the table, calling out “mon amour” — French for “my love” — and summoning Nadine Menendez, the woman he married the next year. Mr. Uribe said she brought him a piece of paper and went back into the house. At the senator’s request, Mr. Uribe wrote down the names of two friends and two companies he believed were under investigation. Mr. Menendez then took the paper, folded it and placed it in his pants pocket.
Persons: Jose Uribe, Robert Menendez, Menendez, Mr, Uribe, , Nadine Menendez Organizations: New Locations: quashing, Englewood Cliffs, N.J
New Jersey’s former attorney general, Gurbir S. Grewal, took the stand on Thursday afternoon in Senator Robert Menendez’s bribery trial, becoming the most prominent official to testify against the senator, a fellow Democrat. Mr. Grewal was expected to offer details about telephone calls from Mr. Menendez and a brief meeting the two had in September 2019 in the senator’s office in Newark. Being called as a witness in a criminal trial was an unusual role for Mr. Grewal, a former federal prosecutor who now leads the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s enforcement division. Mr. Menendez turned to look directly at Mr. Grewal as he walked slowly to the stand. Mr. Uribe, who was charged last year in the alleged bribery conspiracy, pleaded guilty in March and is now cooperating with prosecutors.
Persons: Gurbir S, Grewal, Robert Menendez’s, Menendez, Mr, Jose Uribe, Uribe’s, Uribe Organizations: U.S . Securities, Exchange, Prosecutors Locations: Newark
Representative Rob Menendez faces a tough primary challenge from Ravi Bhalla, the mayor of Hoboken. Mr. Menendez’s opponents have sought to capitalize on the travails of his father, Senator Robert Menendez, who is on trial on bribery charges.
Persons: Rob Menendez, Ravi Bhalla, Menendez’s, Robert Menendez Locations: Hoboken, Mr
In May 2019, a top official in the U.S. Department of Agriculture got a call on his cellphone from Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey. The conversation was brief, the senator was curt, and the message was clear: “Stop interfering with my constituent.”Ted A. McKinney, then the under secretary for trade and foreign agricultural affairs, testified about the exchange on Friday during the third week of Mr. Menendez’s bribery trial in Federal District Court in Manhattan. It was the first time that jurors had heard directly from a witness who attributed conduct to the senator that is central to the government’s claim in an indictment that alleges a sprawling bribery conspiracy: that Mr. Menendez was willing to flex his political muscle to win favorable treatment for allies.
Persons: Robert Menendez, curt, ” Ted A, McKinney, Menendez Organizations: U.S . Department of Agriculture, Robert Menendez of New, Federal, Court Locations: Robert Menendez of, Robert Menendez of New Jersey, Manhattan
Prosecutors from the Southern District of New York are fighting a legal battle on two fronts. The government’s ability to sketch a clear and convincing picture for the jury despite these growing constraints will likely determine Menendez’s legal fate. “(She) communicated with the bribe payers, she passed messages to Menendez, and she collected some of the bribes,” Pomerantz said. Rob Menendez – rotten to the core.”Menendez Jr. directly addressed that line of attack in a recent spot of his own. But for Menendez, the senator and father, the will of the 8th District’s primary voters could weigh heavily on his political future – and legacy.
Persons: New Jersey Sen, Bob Menendez, Sidney Stein, Stein, Menendez, Prosecutors, , Menendez –, Will Menendez, Donald Trump, Nadine, Nadine Menendez, Avi Weitzman, , Lara Pomerantz, ” Pomerantz, , Rob Menendez Jr, Ravi Bhalla, Bhalla, Rob Menendez, Rob Menendez –, ” Menendez Jr, That’s, ” Menendez, “ I’m Organizations: New, New York CNN, New Jersey Democrat, Southern, of, US, McDonnell, United, Manhattan Criminal, Congressional, Democratic, Hoboken, Garden State Democrats ’ Locations: New York, New Jersey, Manhattan, Hudson, of New York, United States, Lower Manhattan, North Jersey’s, “ Jersey
In a potential setback for the government, a federal judge on Friday blocked the introduction of certain evidence that prosecutors wanted to use to support their case that Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey accepted bribes in exchange for approving billions of dollars in aid to Egypt. The judge’s order, which comes two weeks into Mr. Menendez’s corruption trial in Manhattan, could undermine prosecutors’ ability to prove certain elements of the multifaceted bribery charges against the senator. The ruling rests on protections afforded to members of Congress under the Constitution’s “speech or debate” clause, which bars the government from citing specific legislative actions in seeking to prove a federal lawmaker committed a crime. The U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York has said it intended to sidestep discussion of official legislative acts and focus instead on promises it says preceded Mr. Menendez’s votes and congressional actions.
Persons: Robert Menendez Organizations: Robert Menendez of New, Southern, of Locations: Robert Menendez of, Robert Menendez of New Jersey, Egypt, Manhattan, U.S, of New York
So it goes for Menendez, who is likely pleased to have his legal drama playing out in relative obscurity. More recently, Fetterman mocked the senator’s defense, which relies in part on pointing the finger of blame on Nadine Menendez, his wife. Republicans in Washington, as they’ve done during these first two weeks of the Menendez trial in New York, have been consistently deferential to the New Jersey Democrat. Rep. Andy Kim, a popular Democrat from South Jersey, is expected to win the nomination to succeed Menendez. Andrew Giuliani, pressed for a thought on the senator’s trial or the allegations against him, shrugged.
Persons: New York CNN — Andrew Giuliani, Donald, , Rudy Giuliani squinted, , ” He’s, Sen, Bob Menendez’s, , Michael Cohen, Daniels, Menendez, Trump, Donald Trump Jr, Attorney Alvin Bragg, Ronny Jackson, Bob Costello, Pam Bondi, Missouri Sen, Eric Schmitt, Matt Whitaker, Sebastian Gorka, Gov, Dan Patrick, Jackson, María Elvira Salazar, Troy Nehls, Dale Strong, Daniel Webster of, Vladimir Putin’s, Cory Booker, Chuck Schumer, John Fetterman, George Santos, Fetterman, Nadine Menendez, ” Fetterman, Jake Tapper, Mitch McConnell, ” North Dakota Sen, Kevin Cramer, he’s, Andy Kim, Andrew Giuliani, haven’t, ” CNN’s Sabrina Souza Organizations: New, New York CNN, New York, Manhattan Criminal, Court, Republican, Democrat, The New, The New Jersey Democrat, Foreign Relations, Trump, Democratic, Manhattan, Attorney, Texas, Dale Strong of, Pennsylvania Democrat, New York Rep, , Union, , Republicans, New Jersey Democrat, Democrats, GOP, ” North, Politico Locations: New York, Lower Manhattan, Manhattan, The, The New Jersey, Menendez’s, Florida, Sebastian Gorka , Texas, María Elvira Salazar of Florida, Texas, Dale Strong of Alabama, Daniel Webster of Florida, North Korea, Vladimir Putin’s Russia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Washington, Egypt, , “ State, Israel, ” North Dakota, South Jersey, New York City
Senator Robert Menendez’s soon-to-be wife dropped a lot of names during a 2019 meeting she held with a lawyer who later paid off the delinquent mortgage on her Englewood Cliffs, N.J., home, saving it from foreclosure. But Mr. Menendez’s name was not one of them, the lawyer, John Moldovan, testified on Tuesday in the second week of the senator’s federal bribery trial in Manhattan. Mr. Moldovan said he was later instructed by his boss, Wael Hana, the owner of a New Jersey-based halal meat certification company, to pay $23,568.54 to a lender that held the mortgage on the home owned by Nadine Menendez, who married the senator in 2020. Mr. Hana never brought up the senator’s name either, Mr. Moldovan testified. “Never mentioned his name once to me,” Mr. Moldovan said during cross-examination by Mr. Menendez’s lawyer, Avi Weitzman.
Persons: Robert Menendez’s, John Moldovan, Moldovan, Wael Hana, Nadine Menendez, Hana, , ” Mr, Menendez’s, Avi Weitzman Locations: Englewood, N.J, Manhattan, New Jersey
Menendez and Hana – as well as the other co-defendant, New Jersey real estate developer Fred Daibes – have pleaded not guilty. Moldovan said Nadine Menendez was “upset and offended” that Hana had a lawyer formalize the loan with a promissory note. Moldovan testified that he rarely did anything without Hana’s approval. Nadine Menendez never signed the IS EG job agreement, according to Moldovan. On cross-examination, the senator’s attorney, Avi Weitzman, asked Moldovan if Nadine Menendez ever mentioned she was dating the senator, to which he testified she did not.
Persons: CNN — Sen, Bob Menendez’s, New Jersey Democrat’s, Menendez, , Wael Hana, Menendez’s, Hana, Fred Daibes, Hana –, Fred Daibes –, Nadine, John Moldovan, Nadine Menendez, , Avi Weitzman, Daibes, CNN’s Gregory Krieg Organizations: CNN, New, FBI, State Department, EG, Moldovan, Strategic International Business Consultants Locations: New Jersey, New York, Egyptian American, Qatar
Here are four big questions facing Menendez, his lawyers and federal prosecutors as the trial intensifies. How hard does the defense lean on Nadine Menendez? The other half of their telling, in short, is that Nadine Menendez was the one pulling the strings — and hiding it from her husband. Republicans have been surprisingly absent from the hoopla around the Menendez trial. This dynamic could change later this week or next when Trump’s trial is expected to reach its denouement.
Persons: Sen, Bob Menendez’s, , Menendez, Nadine, Wael Hana, Fred Daibes, Andy Kim, Lara Pomerantz, , Pomerantz, James Bret Tate, Hana’s, Prosecutors, Nadine Menendez, Avi Weitzman, ” “, ” Weitzman, Weitzman, , Candace E, Hana, Will, hasn’t, Donald Trump Organizations: CNN, New, New Jersey Democrat, Garden, Democratic, Capitol, US Department of Agriculture, of Agriculture, USDA, Will Republicans, GOP, Republicans Locations: New Jersey, Egypt, Qatar, New York, Manhattan, Egyptian American, Cairo, Hana’s New Jersey, New York City
The Mrs. defense: powerful men blaming their wives
  + stars: | 2024-05-18 | by ( Zachary B. Wolf | ) edition.cnn.com   time to read: +5 min
“I had no involvement whatsoever in the flying of the flag,” Alito said in a written statement to The New York Times, which first reported the story this week. A Supreme Court justice being unmasked as having a partisan tilt wouldn’t be illegal – just awkward and icky. Shannon Stapleton/ReutersCouples behaving badlyFormer Rep. Duncan Hunter, a California Republican, pioneered the Mrs. defense when he and his wife were both accused of funneling campaign funds for private use. A unanimous US Supreme Court, including Alito, later vacated the governor’s conviction and narrowed the scope by which prosecutors can pursue bribery allegations. The Mrs. defense could conceivably be turned on its head and used by a powerful woman to blame her husband.
Persons: Samuel Alito doesn’t, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Alito, , ” Alito, Ann, Alito won’t, Clarence Thomas ’, Ginni, Thomas, Menendez ‘, Sen, Bob Menendez, Nadine, Menendez, Nadine Menendez, Menendez’s, Shannon Stapleton, Duncan Hunter, Margaret, Trump, Henry Cuellar, Imelda, , . Cuellar, Jesse Jackson Jr, Sandra, Bob McDonnell, Maureen, Cori Bush, Bush, Kim Taylor, Jeremy Taylor Organizations: CNN, New York Times, House, New, New Jersey Democrat, California Republican, Texas Democrat, Illinois Democrat, Former Virginia Gov, Republican, Missouri Democrat, Supervisors Locations: New Jersey, New York, Manhattan, New York City, California, Texas, Illinois, Missouri, Washington, Iowa, Woodbury County
Senator Robert Menendez’s bribery trial got underway this week in a Manhattan courtroom eight months after he was first indicted on corruption charges. The government has brought a complicated set of accusations against Mr. Menendez, 70. “This case is about a public official who put greed first,” said Lara Pomerantz, an assistant U.S. attorney. “A public official who put his own interests above his duty to the people. Who put his power up for sale.”Two businessmen, Fred Daibes and Wael Hana, are on trial with Mr. Menendez, accused of plying him with bribes.
Persons: Robert Menendez’s, Menendez, , Lara Pomerantz, , Who, Fred Daibes, Wael Hana, Nadine Menendez Locations: Manhattan, Jersey, Egypt, Qatar, New Jersey, U.S
On Wednesday, a lawyer representing Senator Robert Menendez in his bribery trial painted a picture of a marriage cloaked in secrecy and deception, casting the senator’s wife, Nadine Menendez, as an opportunist who traded on his name. Less than 24 hours later, Mr. Menendez was projecting a new message: He was a protective husband asking for privacy for his wife, who, he revealed for the first time, was being treated for breast cancer. “We are of course concerned about the seriousness and advanced stage of the disease,” Mr. Menendez, 70, said in the statement. “We hope and pray for the best results.”The timing of the announcement, issued by his Senate office, punctuated a remarkable first week of trial. And the revelation served to shine a newly intense spotlight on a couple whose fates are intertwined — but whose priorities may not be.
Persons: Robert Menendez, Nadine Menendez, Menendez, Mr
Menendez is not running for reelection in next month’s Democratic primary but has said he would consider an independent bid should he be exonerated. “Evidence will show Nadine’s family had a lot of gold,” Weitzman said, asserting that she did not discuss money with the senator and kept financial problems she had from him. Weitzman also said the gold bars were found in Nadine’s locked closet, which the senator didn’t have access to. The potential jurors – an array of New Yorkers, including pastors, a standup comedian and amateur musicians – were pressed on whether they could be unbiased and fairly consider testimony from law enforcement officers or convicted criminals. One potential juror spoke about being a “news junkie” who couldn’t sit on the trial because “I’ve learned about the case significantly.
Persons: CNN — Sen, Bob Menendez’s, , ” Menendez, Avi Weitzman, Nadine, Menendez, Wael Hana, Fred Daibes, Donald, Lara Pomerantz, “ Robert Menendez, ” Pomerantz, Nadine Menendez, Weitzman, ” “, , ” Weitzman, Menendez “, ” Nadine, didn’t, Hana, whittle, “ I’ve, Sidney Stein, they’ve, ” Stein, Bob Menendez, Stein, Robert F, Kennedy Jr, I’m Organizations: CNN, New, New Jersey Democrat, Jersey businessmen, Democratic, United, White House, Egypt’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Locations: Manhattan, New Jersey, Egypt, Qatar, Jersey, Egyptian American, United States, Lebanon, Paris
The corruption trial of Senator Robert Menendez, a powerful New Jersey Democrat, spun into motion in Manhattan on Wednesday, with combative opening statements and an extraordinary claim by the defense. Speaking directly to the jury, a U.S. prosecutor asserted that Mr. Menendez “put his power up for sale,” trading favors involving Egypt and New Jersey businessmen for gold bars, cash and a Mercedes-Benz convertible. But it was a lawyer for Mr. Menendez who shook the courtroom awake, piling blame on the senator’s wife, Nadine Menendez. Mr. Menendez, 70, betrayed little emotion as he watched the opening statements from the courtroom, where he is facing some of the gravest charges ever leveled against a sitting U.S. senator. Prosecutors have also charged Ms. Menendez, but her trial was delayed until July for health reasons.
Persons: Robert Menendez, Mr, Menendez “, Menendez, Nadine Menendez, Fred Daibes, Wael Hana Organizations: New Jersey Democrat, Benz, Prosecutors Locations: New Jersey, Manhattan, U.S, Egypt
Jury selection for Senator Robert Menendez’s corruption trial starts on Monday in a federal courthouse in Manhattan, a 20-mile drive from Mr. Menendez’s home in northern New Jersey, where for decades he has been a well-known Democratic political leader. His efforts to move the trial to his home turf failed. Jurors picked to decide the case will be from Manhattan, the Bronx or one of several New York counties north of the city. Mr. Menendez, 70, will be tried with two New Jersey businessmen, Fred Daibes and Wael Hana. His wife, Nadine Menendez, 57, was also charged in the bribery scheme but will be tried separately, in July.
Persons: Robert Menendez’s, Menendez’s, Menendez, Fred Daibes, Wael Hana, Nadine Menendez Organizations: Democratic, Prosecutors, U.S, Southern, of Locations: Manhattan, New Jersey, Bronx, New York, of New York, Qatari, Jersey
Here’s what prosecutors say the senator and his wife got:Gold barsProsecutors say Hana and Daibes gave Menendez and his wife gold bars, which were seized by the FBI from the Menendez residence. After returning from a trip to Egypt and getting a ride home from the airport from Daibes’ driver, prosecutors say Menendez searched online for the price of a gold bar. Nadine Menendez needed a new car, apparently after hitting and killing a jaywalker in Bogota, New Jersey, in December 2018. There is a long list of actions prosecutors say Menendez undertook in exchange for all of these alleged bribes. The envelopes of cash prosecutors say bore Daibes’ fingerprints may be more difficult to explain.
Persons: CNN — Democratic Sen, Bob Menendez, Mercedes, Menendez, CNN’s Manu Raju, , , Nadine, Wael Hana, Fred Daibes, Jose Uribe, Daibes, Nadine Menendez’s, Nadine Menendez, Uribe, Hana, , , Qataris, retry Menendez, Salomon Melgen, Melgen, Donald Trump Organizations: CNN — Democratic, Bob Menendez of New, Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Capitol, FBI, Court Southern District of, Prosecutors, Court Southern District of New York Prosecutors, Court Southern District of New York, Menendez, Uribe, Mercedes, Benz, Senate Foreign Relations, US Department of Agriculture, New York, of Justice Locations: Bob Menendez of, Bob Menendez of New Jersey, Egypt, Qatar, New Jersey, Daibes, Court Southern District of New York, Bogota , New Jersey, New
Who Are Key Players in the Menendez Case?
  + stars: | 2024-05-11 | by ( Tracey Tully | Benjamin Weiser | ) www.nytimes.com   time to read: +7 min
Who Are Key Players in the Menendez Case? Mr. Menendez goes to trial on May 13 with two of the businessmen, Fred Daibes and Wael Hana. Fred Daibes New Jersey Real Estate Developer Mr. Daibes is accused of giving Mr. Menendez furniture, gold and cash. Nadine Menendez Mr. Menendez’s Wife Ms. Menendez served as a go-between for Mr. Menendez, Egyptian intelligence officials and men who were seeking political favors from the senator, according to the indictment. Defense LawyersAdam Fee Lawyer for Robert Menendez He previously spent five years as a prosecutor in the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District — the same office prosecuting Mr. Menendez.
Persons: Menendez, Robert Menendez, Nadine Menendez, Mr, Fred Daibes, Wael Hana, Menendez's, Daibes, Nadine Menendez Mr, Menendez’s, Ms, Jose Uribe, Uribe, Uribe's, Sidney H, Stein, Bill Clinton, Jennifer Shah, Hassan Nemazee, Damian Williams, Williams, President Biden, Sam Bankman, Fried, Juan Orlando Hernández, Christina Clark, Clark, Charles McGonigal, Catherine Ghosh, Eli Mark, Paul Monteleoni, Robert Hadden, Lara Pomerantz, Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein, Norman Seabrook, Daniel Richenthal, Sheldon Silver, Michael Avenatti, Adam Fee, Fee, Avi Weitzman, Lawrence Lustberg Organizations: Democrat, Robert Menendez New Jersey, Senate Foreign Relations, Jersey Real, EG, Prosecutors, United, Jose Uribe Former New, Benz, U.S, Southern, of, Democratic, Attorney, Southern District of, ex, Public, New, New York City Housing Authority, Justice Department, Southern District’s, New York State Assembly, Nike . Defense, Southern District Locations: New Jersey, Manhattan, Jersey, Egypt, Qatar, United States, Jose Uribe Former New Jersey, of New York, Southern District, Southern District of New York, Russian, New York City, Brooklyn, Columbia, New York, U.S, California
When Senator Robert Menendez was charged last year with corruption after investigators found $486,000 in cash stashed around his house in New Jersey, he offered a simple, “old-fashioned” explanation: It had been his custom to withdraw cash from a personal savings account to keep at home, a habit he learned from his Cuban immigrant parents. But federal prosecutors, in papers filed late Friday, presented fresh details that they suggested undercut Mr. Menendez’s claim. Some of the cash was wrapped in bands showing it had been withdrawn, at least $10,000 at a time, from a bank where Mr. Menendez and his wife “had no known depository account.” This, prosecutors said, indicated “that the money had been provided to them by another person.”
Persons: Robert Menendez, Menendez’s, Menendez, , Locations: New Jersey
An aide said that Ms. Murphy, the wife of Gov. Philip D. Murphy, had held a meeting with county Democratic Party leaders at 2 p.m. on Sunday before making a final decision and notifying her campaign staff members. Ms. Murphy, 58, entered the race in November and was instantly endorsed by a coalition of influential party leaders, including many whose livelihoods were dependent on the governor, who has nearly two years left in his term. Since then, Mr. Kim has successfully yoked Ms. Murphy’s campaign to what he called the same style of “broken politics” that nurtured and protected Mr. Menendez for decades. The first independent poll of the race showed Ms. Murphy trailing Mr. Kim by 12 percentage points.
Persons: Murphy, Philip D, Kim, Menendez Organizations: Democratic Party, Benz
Family drama in the Garden State
  + stars: | 2024-03-13 | by ( Tracey Tully | ) www.nytimes.com   time to read: +1 min
These sordid details form the backbone of the bribery charges against New Jersey’s senior senator, Robert Menendez, a Democrat. In any other state, that would be enough drama. But in the Garden State, the scandal has uncorked an even more powerful political tempest. The audacious play for a highly coveted seat has prompted critics to pan her candidacy as rank nepotism. She is up against Andy Kim, a popular three-term Democratic congressman from South Jersey, who is perhaps best known nationally for a viral photograph of him cleaning up the Capitol after the Jan. 6 riot.
Persons: Robert Menendez, Tammy Murphy, New, Phil Murphy, Andy Kim Organizations: New, Garden State Locations: Garden, South Jersey
In the last decade, it has proved surprisingly hard to put politicians accused of corruption behind bars. And juries have occasionally thought the officeholders’ behavior didn’t meet the high standard for corruption. Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey, who was arraigned yesterday in a federal bribery case, is both an example of the conundrum and a test of whether federal prosecutors now know how to overcome it. In the senator’s last corruption trial, in 2017, jurors couldn’t make sense of the gifts and favors he’d received from a wealthy eye doctor. In exchange, prosecutors say, he attempted to disrupt criminal cases and used his position on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee inappropriately.
Persons: didn’t, Bob Menendez, he’d, Menendez Organizations: Bob Menendez of New, Democrat, Benz, Senate Foreign Relations Locations: Bob Menendez of, Bob Menendez of New Jersey, Egypt
For the third time in six months, Senator Robert Menendez stood before a judge in Manhattan on Monday to be arraigned on new criminal charges filed as part of an expansive federal bribery investigation. Mr. Menendez, a Democrat from New Jersey, has previously pleaded not guilty to accepting bribes and acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government. On Monday, he pleaded not guilty to obstruction of justice, a charge added last week in an updated indictment against the senator; his wife, Nadine Menendez; and two New Jersey businessmen, Wael Hana and Fred Daibes. The new charges come less than two months before the scheduled start of the trial, May 6. The obstruction of justice charge appears to be related to information provided by Jose Uribe, a former insurance broker charged in September in the bribery conspiracy.
Persons: Robert Menendez, Menendez, Nadine Menendez, Wael Hana, Fred Daibes, Jose Uribe, Uribe Organizations: Benz Locations: Manhattan, New Jersey, Jersey
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