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Charges of accepting bribes, including gold bars, cash, and luxury cars, by a sitting U.S. senator to promote U.S. aid and arms to a foreign government and to thwart a federal lawsuit against one of the senators. The case ended up in a trial that lasted several weeks. Co-defendant.
New Jersey Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez faces 16 charges, including bribery and conspiracy to obstruct justice, but he has refused calls to resign and will not run in the state’s primary election, although he may do so. is left behind. He ran as an independent candidate after the trial.
“I look forward to proving my innocence,” the senator told CNN’s Manu Raju at the Capitol last week when asked repeatedly whether he would resign amid a possible conviction.
Prosecutors say Menendez and his wife, Nadine, helped several New Jersey businessmen (all charged with conspiracy) obtain lucrative contracts with officials in Egypt and Qatar, and that the businessmen and their associates helped them obtain lucrative contracts with Egyptian and Qatari officials. They allege that he tried to pressure authorities to halt the investigation.
Jury selection in the case begins Monday.
Menendez will stand trial along with co-defendants Egyptian-American businessman Wael Hana and New Jersey real estate developer Fred Dives. His wife is scheduled to go on trial in July.
Here’s what you need to know:
According to the indictment, Hana and Nadine Menendez, who had been friends for years before starting a relationship with the senator in 2018, worked together to connect the senator with several Egyptian government officials and help the U.S. They say they secured military aid and an exclusive contract with Hana’s company.
Prosecutors said the deal made Hana’s company the only company that could certify food exports from the U.S. to Egypt as halal-compliant.
According to prosecutors, Mr. Menendez was a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee at the time, a position with authority over military sales to foreign countries, and he met several times with Hana’s Egyptian military personnel and was involved in the sale of foreign military products to the country. He reportedly helped steer U.S. military sales and aid. .
The indictment also alleges that Mr. Menendez ghostwrote a letter on behalf of the Egyptian government trying to persuade other senators to lift a $300 million aid hold.
Prosecutors said Menendez allegedly agreed to use his position to facilitate military sales and financing to Egypt, as well as who worked at the U.S. embassy in Cairo. It is said that he also passed on confidential information about the incident to his wife. His wife then sent the information to Hana, who forwarded it to Egyptian government officials.
The senator also allegedly pressured USDA officials to protect the monopoly on halal certification that Hana secured with Egypt for his company, and that Hana’s wife used that monopoly to protect Menendez’s efforts. It is believed that he received compensation in return for this.
Prosecutors say Menendez’s involvement with foreign governments also extended to Qatari officials.
Prosecutors said Menendez repeatedly searched for prices online in exchange for gold bars and other items, and helped co-defendant Duybes obtain millions of dollars in investments in real estate projects from Qatari authorities. He is said to have helped.
Prosecutors allege Menendez used his power as a senator to try to influence several New Jersey cases involving co-defendants, including This included talking with top prosecutors and trying to recommend candidates for federal prosecutor in New Jersey. Mr. Menendez believed it would help quell the case against Mr. Duives.
Prosecutors said New Jersey businessman Jose Uribe and Hana bought Nadine a luxury car in recognition of Menendez’s efforts to pressure officials in a case.
Mr. Uribe pleaded guilty in May to seven charges related to a bribery scheme involving Mr. Menendez and his co-defendants and agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors in the case, including testifying at trial.
Ultimately, Menendez’s influence efforts failed, according to the indictment. New Jersey’s lawsuit against Dives is ongoing.
Prosecutors say gold bars and hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash were discovered after search warrants were executed at the Menendez’s home and other locations, and the senators were ordered to repay the businessmen. It is said that he tried to cover up the bribe. He claimed that the mortgage and luxury car were just loans.
The indictment states that two lawyers told prosecutors, based on the couple’s statements, that the bribe payments were actually loans. At the time, Menendez allegedly had his lawyer state that he did not initially know about the mortgage and car payments, but prosecutors say this is false.
The couple were charged with obstruction of justice.
Mr. Menendez’s lawyers have hinted at several possible defenses they may present during the trial, including the 13 gold bars and $480,000 that investigators found in his home. including the idea that Cash may be explained by intergenerational family trauma and mental disorders partially resulting from his father’s suicide. .
Shortly after he was indicted on bribery charges last year, Menendez told reporters he had withdrawn thousands of dollars in cash over a 30-year period, citing his “family’s history of facing forfeiture in Cuba.”
Defense attorneys say family trauma and the death of his father left Menendez with a fear of deprivation that led him to develop “seemingly unusual” coping mechanisms.
Mr. Menendez may also try to pin the blame for the alleged conspiracy on his wife, Nadine, whose trial was delayed due to medical issues.
“Senator Menendez alleges (in part) that he lacked the necessary knowledge of many of his wife Nadine’s acts and statements, and therefore lacked scientific expertise, and did not consent to participate in the accused conspiracy. “We intend to submit legal representation that will do so,” the lawyers said. wrote Menendez in a court filing.
