USA v. MENENDEZ

  1. July 12, 2024

    Menendez Bribery Case Goes To Jury

    A Manhattan jury began deliberating Friday over bribery and other charges against Sen. Robert Menendez and two New Jersey businessmen after hearing hours of instructions in the 18-count case and eating their final lunch with five alternates.

  2. July 11, 2024

    Whispers, Curses As Menendez Trial Inches Toward Jury

    Federal corruption prosecutors wound down their bribery case against Sen. Robert Menendez Thursday with a mixture of dramatic into-the-mic whispering and reliance on the adjective "damn" as they argued that nothing in the tale would make sense without the alchemizing element of crime.

  3. July 10, 2024

    Key Menendez Witness Faces Scrutiny As Closings Drag On

    Closing arguments in U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez's bribery trial are set to go into a fourth calendar day after jurors watched multiple sets of defense counsel Wednesday tear apart the testimony of a key cooperating witness.

  4. July 09, 2024

    Menendez Atty Accuses Feds Of 'Trickery' As Trial Nears End

    The bribery case against Sen. Bob Menendez is being "fudged" to compensate for pervasive gaps in evidence, his counsel told a federal jury in Manhattan at the start of defense closing arguments Tuesday.

  5. July 08, 2024

    Menendez 'Put Power Up For Sale,' Feds Say In Closing

    Sen. Robert Menendez "put his power up for sale" in a slew of bribes often brokered by his wife but for which the New Jersey lawmaker was always "calling the shots," a Manhattan federal prosecutor said during closing arguments in the high-profile trial Monday.

  6. July 03, 2024

    Menendez's Focus On Ally's Case Was Legitimate, Jury Told

    Sen. Robert Menendez rested his bribery defense Wednesday after a prominent criminal defense attorney testified that Menendez was not alone in finding a certain prosecution "abusive," rebutting the notion that the lawmaker's interest was part of a quid pro quo.

  7. July 01, 2024

    Menendez's Sister Testifies Storing Cash Was Family Practice

    An older sister of Sen. Robert Menendez who fled Cuba with their parents testified at the lawmaker's bribery trial on Monday that storing cash at home was a practice instilled by their father because of his deep distrust of banks.

  8. June 28, 2024

    Prosecution Rests In Menendez Bribery Trial

    New York federal prosecutors on Friday closed out their case-in-chief that Sen. Robert Menendez accepted bribes from constituent businessmen, resting after a final witness said some $550,000 in cash seized from the senator's wife's house could not have been from his cash withdrawals in recent years, which were only $55,000.

  9. June 27, 2024

    Menendez Met Alleged Briber Pre-Gold Price Search, Jury Told

    An FBI cell tower expert told Sen. Robert Menendez's bribery jury Thursday that the phones of the senator, his wife and co-defendant developer Fred Daibes all pinged in the same location minutes before the senator did a web search for "how much is one kilo of gold worth."

  10. June 26, 2024

    Menendez Pals 'Generous,' Jeweler Says In Joke-Filled Testimony

    A jeweler who helped Sen. Robert Menendez's wife sell gold bars that were supposedly bribes testified Wednesday the codefendants who gave Menendez the bars have always been generous, salting his testimony with so many droll comments that the New York federal judge — who initially bantered back — eventually gave a special instruction reinforcing that the trial is "very serious."