Christian Smith
FILE – Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., speaks at the Senate Finance hearing on Capitol Hill, Thursday, March 21, 2024, in Washington. Jury selection is set to begin on Monday, May 13, 2024, in the trial of Menendez, a Democrat accused of accepting bribes in gold and cash to use his influence to help three New Jersey businessmen. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib, File)
NEW YORK (AP) — Jury selection was set to begin Monday in the trial of Sen. Bob Menendez, a Democrat accused of accepting bribes of gold and cash to use his influence to deliver favors that would help three New Jersey businessmen.
Menéndez, 70, will be tried in Manhattan federal court along with two of the businessmen – real estate developer Fred Daibes and Wael Hana. All three 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 has been postponed until at least July.
Opening statements were possible but unlikely before Tuesday for a trial that has already upended the senator’s political stature. After the charges were announced in September, he was forced to leave his powerful role 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 the possibility of running as an independent.
It will be Menendez’s second corruption trial this decade. The previous indictment on unrelated charges ended with a deadlocked jury in 2017.
In the new case, prosecutors say the senator’s efforts on behalf of businesspeople led him to take actions that benefit the governments of Egypt and Qatar. Menéndez vehemently 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 for Egypt.
Among the evidence his lawyers will have to explain are gold bars valued at 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 into his pockets. clothes in the closets.
The Democrat’s wife, Nadine Menéndez, was also accused in the case, but her trial was postponed for health reasons. She must still be an important figure. Prosecutors say Nadine Menendez often served as a conduit between the men paying the bribes and Menendez.
The senator’s lawyers said in court documents that they plan to explain that Menéndez was unaware of part of what occurred because she kept him in the dark.
According to an indictment, Daibes handed over gold bars and cash to Menendez and his wife to obtain the senator’s help in a multimillion-dollar deal with a Qatari investment fund, which led Menendez to act favorably towards the Qatari government.
The indictment also claims that Menéndez did things that benefited Egyptian authorities 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.
When pleading guilty several weeks ago, businessman José Uribe admitted that he bought a Mercedes-Benz for Menendez’s wife to obtain the senator’s help in influencing criminal investigations involving his business partners.
