Closing arguments are scheduled to start on Monday at the bribery trial of New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez, which has been ongoing for nine weeks in Manhattan federal court. Prosecutors are set to deliver their closing arguments, likely to last about five hours, attempting to connect evidence presented during the trial to their claim that items seized during a 2022 FBI raid on Menendez’s home, such as gold bars, over $480,000 in cash, and a luxury car, are proceeds from bribes paid by three New Jersey businessmen.
Numerous witnesses have testified, and prosecutors have introduced a wealth of documents, emails, text messages, phone records, and other factual evidence to support their allegation that Menendez, a Democrat, accepted bribes between 2018 and 2022 in exchange for taking actions to benefit the businessmen’s business interests. Prosecutors further alleged that some of these actions occurred while Menendez was the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Menendez, 70, along with two businessmen, have pleaded not guilty and are being tried together, while a third businessman pleaded guilty and testified against them. Menendez’s wife, Nadine Menendez, 57, a co-defendant in the case, had her trial postponed due to breast cancer surgery, and she has also pleaded not guilty.
In his defense, Menendez’s lawyers have contended that the gold bars belonged to his wife and that the cash found in Menendez’s possession was a result of a family habit of keeping cash at home dating back to their escape from Cuba in 1951. They also claim that Nadine Menendez kept her financial troubles and dealings with the businessmen hidden from the senator. Born in Manhattan but raised in New Jersey, Menendez has held public office since 1986, first as a state legislator, then as a U.S. congressman and, since 2006, as a senator appointed by then-Governor Jon Corzine.
Despite the ongoing trial, Menendez recently filed for reelection as an independent candidate.
