Sen. Pumpkinhead Menendez Employed Registered Sex Offender & Illegal Immigrant

[The Bobster]

Bob Menendez’s alleged bribery scheme had wife using alternate ‘007’ phone, involved $35K diamond ring: court docs

Nadine Menendez’s diamond engagement ring came from funds obtained in a bribe, prosecutors said.

nypost.com

Bob Menendez’s alleged bribery scheme had wife using alternate ‘007’ phone, involved $35K diamond ring: court docs​

By
Social Links for Olivia Land



Published Feb. 14, 2024, 9:39 a.m. ET




New Jersey Senator Bob "Pumpkin Head" Menendez’s wife, Nadine, received a diamond engagement ring as part of their alleged bribery scheme, which at times involved her using an alternate phone that the couple referred to as her “007” device, according to new court filings.


The veteran Democrat, 70, allegedly had an arrangement with Egyptian-American halal purveyor Wael Hana, but it supposedly nearly fell apart when the latter tried to cheat the politician and his wife, Nadine, out of the value of a diamond engagement ring, new court documents filed late Monday revealed.


Menendez allegedly received $150,000 in exchange for intervening in a criminal insurance fraud case, the documents indicated.


Hana – a co-defendant accused of using his company to funnel bribes to the Menendezes – was tasked with using part of the payout to buy Nadine a new Mercedez Benz convertible and the $35,000 sparkler.


Hana, however, actually bought a $12,000 ring, and racked up a $35,000 receipt by splurging on two watches, a bracelet, and a necklace for himself, prosecutors stated.


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Senator Bob Menendez and his wife, Nadine, were indictment on bribery charges last fall. Getty Images
“The Hana associate also explained that Menendez knew that Hana shortchanged him with respect to the ring, and that Nadine Menendez…had taken the ring back to the jeweler and learned that it was worth less money,” the document explained.


“Wael…was about to ruin things with Bob. Bob who is starting to listen to us.” a confidential source with ties to Egyptian officials said, according to prosecutors.


The new Mercedes, meanwhile, was intended to replace the car Nadine wrecked when she struck and killed a pedestrian in Bogota in 2018.


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Senator Menendez narrowly dodged federal charges in 2017.
Last fall, Bob and Nadine Menendez have pleaded not guilty to federal charges that they allegedly accepted hefty bribes – including hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and gold bars – from three New Jersey businessmen in exchange for political favors.


Subsequent charges also accused Menendez of leveraging his position on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to act as an agent of Egyptian and Qatari interests.


The new filings rebutted the senator’s request to block evidence seized during searches of his Englewood Cliffs home on the basis that investigators were overly broad and ignored details that were favorable to the couple.


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Investigators found heaps of cash in the couple’s New Jersey home. US District Court
At times, Menendez made calls to what the couple supposedly referred to as Nadine’s “‘007’ phone” – an apparent reference to the fictional spy James Bond, prosecutors revealed in the new evidence drop.


When investigators searched the Englewood Cliffs house, they also supposedly found two bags filled with $100,000 cash each “on top of a large rack of clothes hangers” in the couple’s basement, the filing added.


“Under the jackets were four boots, stuffed with cash, including one boot containing in excess of $5,000 in $50 bills,” the document stated.


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The couple claimed that the gold bars were inherited from Nadine’s mother. U.S. Attorneyâs Office
Both Menendez and his wife had apparently told staffers that the gold bars at the residence were inherited from the latter’s mother after her death.


At the height of the coronavirus pandemic in late 2020 and early 2021, Menendez also supposedly asked several New Jersey mayors to authorize COVID testing at a particular laboratory that was paying Nadine at the time, prosecutors alleged in the court documents filed late Monday.


The damning evidence, prosecutors wrote in the new filing, should be more than enough to demonstrate that “Menendez did in fact know about the corrupt quid pro quo.”




The filing also slammed the senator’s counsel’s claims that the allegations against him were part of “the government’s apparent zeal to ‘get back’ at Senator Menendez” after he narrowly dodged a federal corruption conviction in 2017.
The Menendezes’ three co-defendants – including Hanna – have pleaded not guilty.
The attorneys from Bob Menendez, Nadine, and Wael Hanna did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for a comment.

 

[The Bobster]

Exclusive | Disgraced pol Bob Menendez showed cash-stuffed safe to married lover who posed nude for him — 15 years before FBI gold bars raid: dossier

The Democrat is alleged to have flashed “hidden” wealth and bragged of kickbacks in 2007, during a torrid affair with nude pictures and mile-high sex.

nypost.com

Disgraced pol Bob Menendez showed cash-stuffed safe to married lover who posed nude for him — 15 years before FBI gold bars raid: dossier​

By
Social Links for Isabel Vincent



Published Feb. 20, 2024, 5:00 a.m. ET








US Sen. Bob "Pumpkinhead" Menendez showed his married lover a safe stuffed with cash 15 years before the FBI raided the New Jersey Democrat’s home, an explosive dossier shared with The Post alleges.


The lover bragged to her friends that she had seen “bundles of cash” stuffed in “hidden places” in 2007, according to the document.


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Sen. Bob Menendez, the veteran New Jersey Democrat, is accused of having had a torrid affair with married Spanish-language newspaper publisher Cecilia Reynolds in 2007, with claims she boasted of seeing his safe stuffed with cash. New York Post
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During the alleged affair, Reynolds, then 44, posed for this nude photo during a trip to Puerto Rico. It was included in an anonymous dossier with these white markings. The dossier was circulated in 2013 and obtained in full by The Post. New York Post
And it also claimed that Menendez boasted about “kickbacks from contractors and influence seeking people” while they conducted a torrid affair that included nude photos and sex on both a private jet and a bed that the senator said had been used by President John F. Kennedy.


The revelations come after veteran Democrat Menendez, 70, and his second wife, Nadine Arslanian, were indicted on bribery and corruption charges last year after federal authorities seized nearly $500,000 in cash and gold bars at their Englewood Cliffs, NJ, home.

And last week, federal prosecutors alleged in a new filing that Arslanian, 56, received a diamond engagement ring as part of the alleged bribery scheme and used an alternate phone that the couple dubbed “007” to communicate with one of their alleged co-conspirators.


The couple and their co-accused, New Jersey businessmen Fred Daibes, Wael Hana and Jose Uribe, have all pleaded not guilty to all charges.


Menendez claims the gold bars were Arslanian’s mother’s and that he withdrew the cash from his bank accounts for decades because of “the history of my family facing confiscation in Cuba.”


The Post first revealed in 2013 that Mendendez had conducted an affair with Cecilia Reynolds — a married former church secretary whom he met when she was the publisher of a small Spanish-language newspaper in Freehold, NJ.

 

[The Bobster]

Sen. Bob Menendez and wife plead not guilty to latest obstruction of justice charges

Menendez and his wife stayed silent as they entered Manhattan federal court after they were charged in a new, 18-count indictment.

www.cbsnews.com

Sen. Bob Menendez and wife plead not guilty to latest obstruction of justice charges​

By Christine Sloan, Christina Fan

Updated on: March 11, 2024 / 5:56 PM EDT / CBS New York

NEW YORK -- New Jersey Sen. Bob "Pumpkinhead" Menendez and his wife, Nadine Menendez, pleaded not guilty to new obstruction of justice charges Monday.

Menendez and his wife stayed silent as they entered Manhattan federal court after they were charged in an 18-count indictment last week.

The couple is accused of taking bribes from three New Jersey businessmen, including $500,000 cash stuffed in envelopes, gold bars and a Mercedes-Benz, for political favors.

The latest indictment alleges they tried to make bribes look like loans.

"Once again, not guilty your honor," Menendez told the judge Monday.




Businessman Jose Uribe recently pleaded guilty and told a judge he gave the senator's wife a car to influence him.

Uribe claims he met with Nadine Menendez after search warrants were executed on the couple's home and agreed to call bribes loans. He said he will cooperate with investigators.

Businessmen Fred Daibes and Wael Hana also pleaded not guilty Monday.

Wael's attorney Lawrence Lustberg said his client is not cutting a deal.




"My client is not going to plead guilty or cooperate. He's not guilty and he's going to be acquitted at trial," said Lustberg. "That one cooperator doesn't have much to say about him. But to the extent he does, we are confident that we can impeach his credibility."

Menendez, who said he will not resign, is also charged with acting as a foreign agent for the government of Egypt, which Hana allegedly has ties to.

"His actions will be shown not to be for the benefit of the government of Egypt," said Lustberg.

During the arraignment, we learned the government plans on calling fingerprint and DNA experts at trial, which is scheduled to start May 6.

Sources close to Menendez, a Democrat, told CBS New York reports he is not running for reelection are false. Walking out of court, Menendez said he hasn't ruled out running as an independent.

The senator's next court appearance is April 30.

What's in the new indictment against Sen. Menendez and his wife?​

According to new court documents, Menendez's wife met with Uribe after federal investigators executed search warrants at the couple's home and, during the meeting, they allegedly discussed payments for a Mercedes-Benz convertible he gave her after prosecutors allege the senator agreed to try to influence the prosecution of someone close to Uribe. During their meeting, prosecutors said Uribe agreed he would tell investigators the car payments were loans.




The couple has been charged with obstruction of justice for allegedly falsely characterizing the return of bribe money as repayment for loans.

• Read More: New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez faces new charges of bribery, obstruction of justice

Menendez called the latest charges "an abuse of power" and insisted he is innocent.

"The government has now falsely alleged a cover-up and obstruction," he said in a statement. "The latest charge reveals far more about the government than it says about me. It says that the prosecutors are afraid of the facts, scared to subject their charges to the fair-minded scrutiny of a jury, and unconstrained by any sense of justice or fair play."

Menendez, his wife, and the other two businessmen pleaded not guilty to the previous set of charges against them.

 

[The Bobster]

Sen. Bob Menendez won't run in N.J. Democratic primary, may seek reelection as independent if cleared in bribery case

Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey faces more than a dozen charges stemming from allegations he traded his political influence for money as part of a yearslong bribery scheme.

www.cbsnews.com

Sen. Bob Menendez won't run in N.J. Democratic primary, may seek reelection as independent if cleared in bribery case​

By Caitlin Yilek, Melissa Quinn

Updated on: March 21, 2024 / 7:37 PM EDT / CBS News

Washington — Indicted Sen. Bob "Pumpkinhead" Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, announced Thursday that he won't run in the Democratic primary as he faces allegations he traded his political influence for money, but said he could seek reelection as an independent if he's exonerated.

"I will not file for the Democratic primary this June. I am hopeful that my exoneration will take place this summer and allow me to pursue my candidacy as an independent Democrat in the general election," Menendez said in a video shared on YouTube.

Menendez was indicted on federal corruption charges in September and has been defiant against calls to resign, though he did step down from his powerful chairmanship of the Foreign Relations Committee.

The charges allege Menendez and his wife, Nadine, accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of bribes, including cash, furniture and gold bars, while using his power and influence to enrich and protect three New Jersey businessmen and benefit the governments of Egypt and Qatar.

In the months since, superseding indictments alleged Menendez and his wife conspired to act as a foreign agent for Egypt and accepted expensive gifts in exchange for favorable comments about Qatar. The latest indictment unsealed in March accused the duo of obstructing the investigation into the scheme.





Menendez and his wife have pleaded not guilty to all the charges. Their trial is set to begin in May.



Although Menendez has faced calls to resign or retire before, the indictment in this case brought the biggest threat to his political future, prompting a slew of New Jersey Democrats to call for his resignation, including Gov. Phil Murphy.

"Unfortunately, the present accusations I am facing, of which I am innocent and will prove so, will not allow me to have that type of dialogue and debate with political opponents that have already made it the cornerstone of their campaign," Menendez said.

A fierce primary is already underway to replace Menendez in the Senate, with Rep. Andy Kim and New Jersey first lady Tammy Murphy topping the field of contenders vying for the Democratic nomination.




While Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has stopped short of calling for Menendez to resign, he has said the "Senate has certain standards that we must live up to" and that he is "disappointed" that Menendez has not "lived up to those standards."

In his video statement, Menendez acknowledged the disappointment but indicated he has no plans to step down from Congress.

"I know many of you are hurt and disappointed in me with the accusations I'm facing," he said. "Believe me, I am disappointed at the false accusations as well. All I can ask of you is to withhold judgment until justice takes place. Until then, I will continue to work my heart out each and every day, as I have for the past 19 years to fight for New Jersey, for you, your family, in a more prosperous, secure future."

 

[The Bobster]

Bob Menendez’s wife was reported missing to cops by her other lover during secret trip with senator

Nadine Arslanian left on the TV and lights, pinned a note to the door and didn’t even tell her children where she was, attorney Doug Anton is revealing.

nypost.com

Bob Menendez’s wife was reported missing to cops by her other lover during secret trip with senator​

By
Social Links for Isabel Vincent



Published April 30, 2024

Updated April 30, 2024, 8:47 a.m. ET








When indicted Sen. Bob "Pumpkinhead" Menendez first began dating his current wife, she vanished for a week — and was declared a missing person by cops because her other lover feared for her safety.


Nadine Arslanian left the lights on and TVs blaring at her Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, home without even her children knowing where she was, The Post has learned.


And she left a “weird” typewritten note on the door for the man she was casually dating, that lover told The Post.


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Arslanian and Menendez married in 2020 after a romance that began when she was already dating another man. At the start of her relationship with the now-indicted Democrat, she vanished for a week. Senator Bob Menendez / Instagram
She then secretly flew for a week-long assignation with Menendez, the New Jersey Democratic senator, in the Dominican Republic in the spring of 2018.




Arslanian, 57, and Menendez, 70, married in 2020 and are now indicted on charges of selling his office to New Jersey businessmen for cash, gold bars and a car, and conspiring to act as secret agents of the Egyptian and Qatari governments.

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Both of them strongly deny the accusations. Menendez will go on trial in federal court in Manhattan on May 13 and Arslanian will have a separate trial in July.


In the spring of 2018, Arslanian was newly involved with the senator and still in an on-again, off-again relationship with lawyer Douglas Anton.


Anton told The Post that she had dropped by his Hackensack, NJ, law office while he was assembling furniture one Thursday and the two had agreed to meet later that evening at her Englewood Cliffs home.


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Arslanian was also casually dating attorney Doug Anton (right) when she first started her relationship with Menendez. She sparked Anton’s concern when she arranged a date with him, then vanished. New York Post
“I texted her, but instead of blue, the text went green,” said Anton, a former attorney for disgraced musician R. Kelly, adding that he grew increasingly alarmed when he arrived at her home and saw a note affixed to her front door.


“My love, I’m going away to see my girlfriend last minute as I need some time to de-stress. Be back Monday. Love you,” the note said. The note was typed, which Anton said he found “weird.”

What we know about Bob Menendez's indictment​

New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez is facing federal corruption charges related to an alleged years-long scheme.
Menendez allegedly accepted bribes, including gold bars, in exchange for helping three businessmen, Wael Hana, Jose Uribe and Fred Daibes, and the country of Egypt, according to officials.
Menendez and his wife, Nadine, were charged with taking hundreds of thousands in bribes, according to a Manhattan federal indictment.
When the feds raided Menendez’s Englewood Cliffs home in June 2022, they found a 2019 Mercedes C-Class, at least 13 gold bars, and $566,000 in cash “stuffed in envelopes.” Another $70,000 in cash was found in Nadine’s safe deposit box.
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Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and his wife, Nadine Menendez, were indicted on federal corruption charges. AP
The feds say Menendez also received mortgage payments and paid for a low-show or no-show job and home furnishings.
This isn’t the first time the Democrat is facing federal corruption charges. In 2015, Menendez was accused of taking gifts from Florida eye surgeon Salomon Melgen.
The “gifts” included a Paris vacation, flights on a private jet, and vacations at Melgen’s villa in the Dominican Republic.

Anton said he wasn’t too upset because he was also dating someone else at the time, “and the idea of a Nadine-free weekend was rather appealing.”


But when she didn’t return on Monday, he began to worry, he told The Post, adding that he called her sister, her adult children and friends, “who also had no idea where she was, that she left, and were very concerned.” Her sister insisted he call police, Anton said.


“It wasn’t like her to do this, and days went by, so I went to the cops,” he said.


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Police were called to Nadine Arslanian’s Englewood Cliffs home, where they found two televisions blaring and the lights on in the spring of 2018 while she was on a romantic getaway with Menendez. Christopher Sadowski
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The home in Bergen County is also where the FBI found these and other gold bars when agents raided it in June 2022. AP
“I did a missing persons report, and they had to come to the house to check to make sure that someone didn’t kill her and put her in a closet.”


Police found the lights on as well as televisions blaring in the living room and a bedroom, according to northJersey.com, citing records obtained from the Englewood Cliffs Police Department.


Arslanian was found several days later, Anton said.


“On the flight back from the DR, she could not get on the plane and had to call for a government check,” Anton told The Post.


“That’s when he [Menendez] first found out we were still ‘seeing’ each other on and off during the week when he was in DC. She later said he freaked out and was p–sed.”


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A golf course in Casa de Campo on the Caribbean coast in the Dominican Republic where Sen. Robert Menendez traveled with a companion at the expense of his benefactor Palm Beach eye doctor Salomon Melgen. CASA de CAMPO
The couple were in Punta Cana, a seaside town in the Dominican Republic. The town is a short drive from Casa de Campo, an exclusive resort where Menendez had been a frequent guest of his former benefactor, Salomon Melgen.


Menendez was indicted for corruption alongside the Palm Beach eye doctor in 2015. His trial resulted in a hung jury, and he and Melgen were acquitted of some of the bribery charges.


When Arslanian was on the plane, she called police to say she was safe and asked them to send Anton a message to stay away from her, according to northjersey.com.


She returned to the US on a Thursday, a week after she had first “disappeared,” said Anton.


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Menendez’s last set of corruption allegations saw him accused of receiving lavish hospitality from Dr. Salomon Melgen (right) at his luxury near to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. Arslanian was contacted by cops at Punta Cana airport. guteni
“She finally landed and blew up my phone, came right to my house to explain, crying and to apologize,” Anton said.


“I asked her, ‘Why did you do that?'” said Anton. “It was more about Bob wanting to be incognito.”


When police returned to Arslanian’s home for a follow-up visit, they found her there along with Wael Hana, an Egyptian-American businessman, who is now one of her two co-defendants, northjersey.com reported.


He and the other co-accused, Fred Daibes, have also pleaded not guilty. A third man, Jose Uribe, pleaded guilty and is cooperating with prosecutors.


Arslanian and Menendez’s attorneys did not respond to requests for comment.

 

[The Bobster]

Feds reject ‘Gold Bar’ Bob Menendez move to call shrink for testimony that he stashes cash at home due to past trauma

Sen. Bob Menendez shouldn’t be allowed to cause “confusion and distraction” by calling a shrink to testify that he stashes cash at home because of past trauma.

nypost.com

Feds reject ‘Gold Bar’ Bob Menendez move to call shrink for testimony that he stashes cash at home due to past trauma​

By
Social Links for Priscilla DeGregory



Published May 2, 2024, 12:29 p.m. ET








Indicted Sen. Bob "Pumpkinhead" Menendez shouldn’t be allowed to cause “confusion and distraction” by calling a psychiatrist to testify at his upcoming bribery trial that the lawmaker stashes cash at home because of past trauma.


The New Jersey Democrat — who is charged with squirreling away piles of money given by businessmen in exchange for political favors — should be barred from calling Dr. Karen Rosenbaum as an expert to “opine” about how Menendez’s family tribulations, including his dad’s suicide over gambling debts, led him to hoard funds at home, Manhattan federal prosecutors wrote in court papers filed Wednesday.


The government said Menendez doesn’t need an expert witness to speak about the claim — which the senator himself made to reporters days after the indictment was unsealed in September — adding that the defendant or someone close to him could make the argument to jurors.


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The feds don’t want Sen. Bob Menendez to call a shrink to testify that he hoarded cash at home because of past trauma. REUTERS
“Rosenbaum’s explanation of why Menendez stored cash in his home appears to be little more than an impermissible attempt to offer hearsay statements of the defendant, and to seek to engender sympathy based on his family background, in the guise of expert testimony,” prosecutors wrote.




Menendez’s defense team notified prosecutors of the trauma angle in an April 19 letter explaining that Rosenbaum — who notably testified for the defense of Manhattan “Killer Nanny” Yoselyn Ortega — would describe how Menendez has an untreated condition because of “two significant traumatic events” in his life.

Explore More​

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Bob Menendez’s wife was reported missing to cops by her other lover during secret trip with senator ​

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Menendez, 70, has a “fear of scarcity” that prompted “the development of a longstanding coping mechanism of routinely withdrawing and storing cash in his home,” Rosenbaum would explain.


Rosenbaum would lay out for a jury how the senator “suffered intergenerational trauma” from his family’s experience having their money confiscated as refugees in Cuba and what little cash they had they kept in their home — a practice passed down to the senator, who was born in the US.


Another reason for the cash-stashing is because Menendez’s father was a compulsive gambler who committed suicide when his powerful son stopped paying off his debts, Rosenbaum would explain.


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Menendez’s lawyers want to call Dr. Karen Rosenbaum to the witness stand to speak about how his refugee Cuban family stashed cash at home after their money was confiscated, leading the senator to do the same thing. Erik Thomas/NY Post
This all would explain, Menendez’s lawyers hope to prove, why the feds found nearly $500,000 in cash and at least 13 gold bars at his Englewood Cliffs home during a raid in June 2022.


Prosecutors say the defense claims shouldn’t be credited due to Menendez being a natural-born citizen and the fact that his father died nearly 50 years ago.


What small value Rosenbaum’s testimony could add “is substantially outweighed by the danger of jury confusion and distraction,” the feds argued, saying her testimony would be an end-run around Menendez risking cross-examination if he were to testify in his own defense.


Trial for Menendez and two co-defendants, Fred Daibes and Wael Hana, is slated to kick off with jury selection May 13.


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The feds seized almost $500,000 in cash from Menendez’s home that they claim is linked to bribes he took. AP
The trio, as well as Menendez’s wife Nadine, are accused of a corruption and bribery scheme in which the Menendezes received cash, gold and a Mercedes convertible in exchange for doling out favors to Daibes, Hana, Jose Uribe and the governments of Egypt and Qatar.




Uribe has pleaded guilty and is cooperating with the feds, while Nadine’s trial was postponed until July due to health issues.


Menendez avoided conviction in a prior bribery case that ended in a 2017 mistrial. He has vehemently denied all the allegations against him.


The senator’s lawyers didn’t immediately return a request for comment Thursday.

 

[The Bobster]

No jurors chosen on first day of NJ Sen. Bob Menendez’s federal corruption trial

The first day at the corruption trial against Sen. Bob Menendez ended with dozens of potential jurors let go and not a single panelist chosen for the jury.

nypost.com

No jurors chosen on first day of NJ Sen. Bob Menendez’s federal corruption trial​

By
Social Links for Priscilla DeGregory



Published May 13, 2024, 6:47 p.m. ET










Not a single juror was chosen Monday in the federal corruption case against New Jersey Sen. Bob "Pumpkinhead" Menendez.
The veteran Democrat — wearing a suit with a red tie and a Senate pin on his lapel — sat quietly in the courtroom, only speaking with his lawyers or reading from time to time, during the first day of trial, which ended with dozens of potential jurors being dismissed.
Manhattan federal Judge Sidney Stein excused over three dozen prospective jurors following three hours questioning them individually with prosecutors and lawyers for the Menendez, 70 — who is charged with accepting gold bars, cash and a Mercedes convertible as bribes.
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Sen. Bob Menendez arriving at Manhattan Federal Court for the start of his bribery trial on May 13, 2024. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
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No jurors were selected in Menendez’s trial on the first day. Candace E. Eaton via AP

When the possible panelists were brought in, Stein informed them the trial involves a “sitting US senator from the state of New Jersey” who allegedly agreed “to accept bribes.”

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He also told them the trial was slated to last up to seven weeks — until about the Fourth of July — prompting many to raise their hands and inform the judge they couldn’t serve for such a long period of time.
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Menendez and his wife were charged in connection to an alleged bribery scheme from 2018 to 2022. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
Stein, along with attorneys from both sides, then began questioning the prospective jurors one-by-one behind closed doors for an initial screening.
Menendez was charged alongside his wife Nadine and three businessmen in a sprawling 18-count indictment laying out an alleged bribery scheme from 2018 through 2022.

​

In exchange for the alleged bribes, the embattled senator doled out political favors for the governments of Egypt and Qatar and for the businessmen: Wael Hana, Fred Daibes and Jose Uribe, prosecutors charge.


Hana and Daibes are co-defendants alongside the senior senator, while Nadine’s trial was postponed until July.


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Dozens of potential jurors were dismissed on the first day. Candace E. Eaton via AP
Uribe took a guilty plea and is cooperating with the feds.


Menendez dodged a conviction in an unrelated bribery and corruption trial which ended with a hung jury in 2017.




He has denied all the charges. His wife, Hana and Daibes have all also pleaded not guilty.


With Post wires

 

[The Bobster]

NJ Sen. Bob Menendez claims he was ‘sidelined’ by wife Nadine, blames her for alleged bribery in opening remarks at corruption trial​

By
Social Links for Jack Morphet ,
Social Links for Ben Kochman and
Social Links for Priscilla DeGregory



Published May 15, 2024

Updated May 15, 2024, 7:00 p.m. ET








Me? Take my wife — please.


New Jersey Sen. Bob "Pumpkinhead" Menendez didn’t know anything about the gold bars hidden inside his home, his lawyer insisted in court Wednesday — blaming the pol’s “dazzling, tall” wife for stashing the trove away without his knowledge.


The veteran Democrat’s lawyer told jurors in Manhattan federal court that Nadine Menendez “sidelined” her hubby — who prosecutors allege took the gold bars, plus hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and a Mercedes convertible, in exchange for wielding his influence to benefit three Garden State businessmen and the governments of Qatar and Egypt.


“Where were the gold bars found? [The] gold bars were found in a locked closet. It is Nadine’s closet,” Menendez’s attorney Avi Weitzman said during opening statements, pulling up a photo of the closet, which he said was “filled with [Nadine’s] clothes.”


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Opening statements begin at the corruption trial against Sen. Bob Menendez. Gregory P. Mango


“The senator did not know the gold bars were there,” Weitzman told jurors during the remarks, delivered loudly at a near-shout.


“[Nadine] kept Bob sidelined. Nadine had these relationships long before she met Bob,” he added.


The feds found 13 gold bars worth over $150,000 and nearly $500,000 in cash when they raided the couple’s Englewood Cliffs, NJ home in June 2022 — all “fruits” of a corrupt scheme that began in 2018, when Bob and Nadine were just starting to date, prosecutors claimed.

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No jurors chosen on first day of NJ Sen. Bob Menendez’s federal corruption trial ​

Gold Bar Bob Menendez will claim he hoarded because parents fled Cuba — putting family history on trial ​

“This case is about a public official who put greed first. Who put his power up for sale,” Manhattan Assistant US Attorney Lara Pomerantz said in her opening remarks, as Menendez, 70, sat at the defense table in a gray suit, pink tie and with a Senate pin on his lapel, looking at the jurors with a poker face while resting his chin on his hands.


“This was not politics as usual. This was politics for profit.”


Menendez could be bought with gold bars, the prosecutor said.


“He was powerful. He was also corrupt. And what was his price? Gold bars,” Pomerantz said as US Attorney Damian Williams listened from the second row of the gallery.


“The scheme filled his pockets, it filled his wife’s pockets, and it fed their greed,” she added. “Menendez abused his positions to feed his own greed and to keep his wife happy.”


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Menendez is charged with accepting bribes from Fred Daibes (pictured) and Wael Hana. Gregory P. Mango
The prosecutor noted that Menendez was cautious to never discuss the alleged bribery scheme in writing with his wife — and purposefully used her as an intermediary.


“He was careful not to send too many texts,” Pomerantz told the jury. “He used Nadine as his go-between to deliver messages to and from the people paying bribes.”


But Weitzman called prosecutors’ allegations “dead wrong” and said that Menendez was just doing “his job” by reaching out to constituents and doing “diplomacy.”

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Follow The Post’s latest coverage on New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez’s indictment

• Sen. Bob Menendez indictment live updates
• NJ Sen. Bob Menendez hit with federal corruption charges for second time; allegedly took bribes — including $100K in gold bars
• Visas for lovers, private jets, villas and a nude Brazilian: Inside the bribery case Sen. Bob Menendez beat

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At one point Weitzman showed a slide with a “Where’s Waldo” cartoon that had the title changed to “Where’s Bob” — drawing laughs from jurors and even prosecutors.


“In this case we need to figure out Where’s Bob? I’ll tell you where — he was doing his job in DC,” Weitzman said.


The attorney described Nadine — who also faces charges in the case but is not set to go to trial until July — as a “beautiful, tall, international woman” of Lebanese descent whose family collected gold, which they had left to her.


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Menendez’ wife Nadine is also charged with accepting bribes but her trial was postponed until July for health reasons. Senator Bob Menendez / Instagram
He claimed much of the gold found by the feds had been left to Nadine by her family, telling jurors, “It’s cultural. They like to give gold and other precious metals as gifts,” including for christenings and baby namings.


“The evidence will show that Nadine’s family had a lot of gold,” Weitzman claimed. But the attorney did not explain why the gold bars in the closet allegedly had serial numbers that can be traced back to Fred Daibes, a co-defendant in the case who is accused of bribing the couple.


The lawyer painted a picture of a married pair who lead separate lives — including having their own bank accounts and phone plans.


Nadine even hid her financial problems from her husband and “kept him in the dark about what she was asking others to give her,” Weitzman claimed.

What we know about Bob Menendez's indictment​

New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez is facing federal corruption charges related to an alleged years-long scheme.
Menendez allegedly accepted bribes, including gold bars, in exchange for helping three businessmen, Wael Hana, Jose Uribe and Fred Daibes, and the country of Egypt, according to officials.
Menendez and his wife, Nadine, were charged with taking hundreds of thousands in bribes, according to a Manhattan federal indictment.
When the feds raided Menendez’s Englewood Cliffs home in June 2022, they found a 2019 Mercedes C-Class, at least 13 gold bars, and $566,000 in cash “stuffed in envelopes.” Another $70,000 in cash was found in Nadine’s safe deposit box.
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Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and his wife, Nadine Menendez, were indicted on federal corruption charges. AP
The feds say Menendez also received mortgage payments and paid for a low-show or no-show job and home furnishings.
This isn’t the first time the Democrat is facing federal corruption charges. In 2015, Menendez was accused of taking gifts from Florida eye surgeon Salomon Melgen.
The “gifts” included a Paris vacation, flights on a private jet, and vacations at Melgen’s villa in the Dominican Republic.

The attorney said there was also an innocent explanation for all the cash found in the Menendez home, claiming that the senator had inherited generational trauma from his family’s experience fleeing Cuba as refugees who hid what little money they had in a grandfather clock.


“Who has gold bars in their home? Smells a bit fishy you might think,” Weitzman said. “Resist that urge. They want you to be blinded by the gold and the cash.”


And, Weitzman claimed, the Mercedes bought for the Menendezes was not a bribe, but merely an innocent replacement for a car that Nadine had “crashed.”


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When the feds raided the Menendezes’ home they found bars of gold stashed away. US District Court
Weitzman did not tell jurors that Nadine had wrecked the previous car in a traffic accident that killed Richard Koop on Dec. 12, 2018. She was found not at fault in the tragedy.


Nadine was not in court. Her lawyer, David Schertler, declined to comment.


Trial began Monday with jury selection, in a painstaking process that lasted over two days and saw dozens of prospective jurors excused for bias or scheduling issues from the case that is slated to last through July.


Menendez took copious notes Wednesday morning as prospective jurors told the judge about their jobs, hobbies and where they get their news from.


The senator looked over his shoulder and eyeballed most of the panelists while they introduced themselves.

 

[The Bobster]

‘Gold Bar’ Sen. Bob Menendez snarls at Post in defense of wife Nadine — days after blaming ailing spouse for legal woes

The embattled senator rushed to the defense of his wife — days after blaming her for his legal woes in a high-stakes bribery trial.

nypost.com

‘Gold Bar’ Sen. Bob Menendez snarls at Post in defense of wife Nadine — days after blaming ailing spouse for legal woes​

By
Social Links for Rich Calder



Published May 18, 2024, 5:18 p.m. ET








Now he cares about his wife!


Embattled New Jersey Sen. Bob "Pumpkinhead" Menendez — who blamed his wife for his legal woes in an ongoing high-stakes bribery trial — rushed to her defense Friday after arriving at their Englewood Cliffs home.


“Don’t be such a bloodsucker! She has cancer,” Menendez snarled at a Post reporter there to greet him.


After being driven home from court in a blue Honda Civic, Menendez entered the home carrying two white plastic bags and two notebooks.


6
Embattled New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez — who blamed his wife Nadine for his legal woes in a high-stakes bribery trial — rushed to her defense Friday after arriving at their Englewood Cliffs home. New York Post


It was unclear if wife Nadine Arslanian was inside.


Two days earlier, Menendez’s lawyer insisted in court that the pol knew nothing about gold bars hidden inside the couple’s home — instead blaming the pol’s “dazzling, tall” wife for stashing the trove away without his knowledge.

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Menendez’s attorney Avi Weitzman told jurors in Manhattan federal court that Arslanian “sidelined” her hubby — who prosecutors allege took the gold bars, plus hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and a Mercedes convertible, in exchange for wielding his influence to benefit three Garden State businessmen and the governments of Qatar and Egypt.


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After being driven home from court in a blue Honda Civic, Menendez entered the home carrying two white plastic bags and two notebooks. New York Post
“Where were the gold bars found? [The] gold bars were found in a locked closet. It is Nadine’s closet,” Weitzman said during opening statements, pulling up a photo of the closet, which he said was “filled with [Nadine’s] clothes.”


“The senator did not know the gold bars were there,” he said.


“[Nadine] kept Bob sidelined. Nadine had these relationships long before she met Bob.”


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Two days earlier, Menendez’s lawyer insisted in court that the pol knew nothing about gold bars hidden inside the couple’s home. Aristide Economopoulos
6
The feds found 13 gold bars worth over $150,000 and nearly $500,000 in cash when they raided the couple’s home in June 2022. New York Post
The feds found 13 gold bars worth over $150,000 and nearly $500,000 in cash when they raided the couple’s home in June 2022 — all “fruits” of a corrupt scheme that began in 2018, when Bob and Nadine were just starting to date, prosecutors claimed.


This is the second federal corruption and bribery trial that the Garden State senior senator is facing in less than a decade, after he dodged a conviction at a prior criminal trial that ended with a hung jury in 2017.


Menendez — who has been free on $100,000 bail — is being tried alongside co-defendants and New Jersey businessmen Wael Hana and Fred Daibes, whose interests the pol allegedly helped advance for wealth and gifts.


6
This is the second federal corruption and bribery trial that the Garden State senior senator is facing in less than a decade, after he dodged a conviction at a prior criminal trial that ended with a hung jury in 2017. Aristide Economopoulos
6
Menendez — who has been free on $100,000 bail — is being tried alongside co-defendants and New Jersey businessmen Wael Hana and Fred Daibes, whose interests the pol allegedly helped advance for wealth and gifts. New York Post



Menendez has denied all the charges, and his co-defendants have also pleaded not guilty.


Uribe, a third businessman involved in the alleged scheme, pleaded guilty and is cooperating with the feds.


Arslanian is also facing bribery charges after pleading not guilty and will stand trial separately.

 

[The Bobster]

Sen. Bob Menendez’s cluttered home loaded with $150K in gold bars, $480K in cash — some stashed in a boot: new photos

Photos shown at Sen. Bob Menendez’s bribery trial reveal cash and gold bars stashed around his cluttered home — including money stuffed inside a boot.

nypost.com

Sen. Bob Menendez’s cluttered home loaded with $150K in gold bars, $480K in cash — some stashed in a boot: new photos​

By
Social Links for Priscilla DeGregory and
Social Links for Ben Kochman



Published May 21, 2024, 1:35 p.m. ET










It’s a “boot-load” of cash.
New photos shown at Sen. Bob "Pumpkinhead" Menendez’s federal bribery trial reveal over $600,000 in cash and gold bars stashed around his cluttered New Jersey home — including a stack of bills stuffed inside a Timberland boot.
Jurors at the Menendez trial, which began last week in Manhattan federal court, were shown dozens of photos taken inside the Garden State Democrat’s Englewood Cliffs house during a June 2022 raid by the FBI.
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New photos were shown at Sen. Bob Menendez’s corruption trial revealing his cluttered New Jersey home that was filled with gold and cash, including money stuffed in a Timberland boot.
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When the feds raided Menendez’s home in June 2022, they found 13 gold bars.

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There was over $480,000 worth of cash stashed at his house.
The pictures, presented in court Thursday, show gold bars small and large, some appearing to be older with nicks and scratches on the surface while others are wrapped in clear plastic packaging.
Thick stacks of cash inside various bags — and even a pile of money stowed inside a well-worn brown Timberland work boot, according to a report by NJ.com — can also be seen in the images.

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Other photos show $100, $50 and $20 bills neatly laid out in grids, presumably placed that way by federal agents during the raid as part of evidence gathering.
Jurors also saw closets stuffed to the gills with clothes and belongings; a tight bedroom with an exercise bike in it, and other untidy spaces inside the modest white house crammed with furniture and other items.
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Menendez is accused of accepting cash and gold as bribes. Gregory P. Mango
Special Agent Aristotelis Kougemitros testified Thursday about leading the raid on the home the veteran Democrat shares with his wife, Nadine Menendez — who is also charged in the case but won’t be going on trial until later this year.
Agents found 13 gold bars worth $150,000 and over $480,000 in cash in closets, inside the senator’s jackets and in designer bags, Kougemitros said.
Kougemitros testified that there was so much money in the home, agents struggled to tally the $486,461 worth of bills by hand and he had to call for two cash-counting machines to be sent over from the FBI’s Manhattan office, according to NJ.com.
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Menendez’s wife Nadine is accused alongside the senator, but her trial has been postponed due to her breast cancer diagnosis. New York Post
“I was directed that if I seized the cash, that I needed to count it in place,” Kougemitros testified. “So I called in reinforcements.”
Menendez and his wife are charged with a slew of corruption and bribery crimes for allegedly pocketing the gold, cash, a Mercedes convertible and other luxury gifts.
In exchange, prosecutors say that Menendez, 70, used the power of his office, including heading the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, to dole out favors for the governments of Egypt and Qatar and for three New Jersey businessmen — Wael Hana, Fred Daibes and Jose Uribe.
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Prosecutors also allege that one of the bribes Menendez and his wife Nadine accepted was a Mercedes convertible.
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The feds found cash stowed inside bags and inside Menendez’s jackets. BFlorczyk
Hana and Daibes are currently on trial alongside the senior senator while Uribe pleaded guilty and is cooperating with the feds.
Nadine’s trial was postponed until at least July so she can receive treatment for breast cancer, including getting a mastectomy, her husband announced last week.
During opening statements, lawyers for Menendez tried to blame Nadine, claiming she inherited the bars of gold from her Lebanese family and that her hubby didn’t even know they were in the home.
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Federal agents had such a hard time counting all the money that two machines had to be sent to the home to complete the tally.
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Photos show the cluttered home that Menendez and wife Nadine shared.
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The Englewood Cliffs, NJ, home was packed with furniture, belongings and valuables.
Defense attorney Avi Weitzman said it was a part of Nadine’s family culture to collect gold as it was often given as gifts at christenings and baby namings.
Similarly, Weitzman said Menendez formed the longtime habit of withdrawing cash and keeping it at home because of generational trauma he inherited from his Cuban refugee family, who lost everything and kept what little money they had where they lived.
On Tuesday, John Moldovan, the general counsel for Hana’s halal company, continued testifying about the Menendezes’ alleged corrupt relationship with Hana.
14
Cash and gold was found inside closets, inside a safe, and other places in the home.
14
There were large and small gold bars in the home. Some appeared worn while others were still inside clear plastic packaging.
Hana helped save Nadine’s home from foreclosure by giving her money for a mortgage payment, Moldovan testified. He said Hana had asked him to help disguise the money to Nadine as a loan rather than a gift.
Menendez in exchange allegedly took actions to help Hana’s company secure a monopoly with Egypt so that any meat from the country to the US would have to be certified by Hana’s business, according to prosecutors.
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Jewelry and cash were also seized as evidence in the case.
Josh Paul, an ex-State Department official, took the stand after Moldovan to give expert testimony on congressional funding in Egypt.
All the defendants have pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The trial will be on pause after Tuesday for a week for a Memorial Day break.
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In exchange for the alleged bribes, Menendez is accused of doling out favors to the governments of Egypt and Qatar and to three New Jersey businessmen.
Menendez — who dodged an unrelated corruption conviction after a mistrial in 2017 — stepped down from the Foreign Relations Committee following the new charges.

 

[The Bobster]

‘Gold Bar Bob’ Menendez’s son Rob tries to hide family surname on campaign posters

The Dem represents New Jersey’s Eighth Congressional District, which includes most of Hudson County, the East and North Wards of Newark in Essex County, and Elizabeth in Union County.

nypost.com

‘Gold Bar Bob’ Menendez’s son Rob tries to hide family surname on campaign posters​

By
Social Links for Chris Harris



Published May 25, 2024, 11:52 a.m. ET

Rep. Rob Menendez faces a primary challenge from Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla. CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images


Don’t read the fine print!
Incumbent U.S. Congressman Rob Menendez apparently doesn’t want anyone knowing his dad is disgraced Sen. “Gold Bar Bob” umpkinhead" Menendez.
The Jersey City lawyer, whose father is being tried on federal bribery charges, opted to magnify his first name on his new congressional campaign signs — while using a miniscule font for his surname.
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You have to squint, but the last name on on this sign in outside Newport Centre Mall. Obtained by The New York Post
The final “E” in his last name mimics the wavy, red stripe “E” in President Joe Biden’s 2024 campaign logo.

Democratic consultant Hank Sheinkopf said Menendez’s son didn’t have much of a choice.
“He knows he has a problem, because of his father’s corruption trial,” Sheinkopf said. “He’s banking on his personal relationship with voters, which he thinks is on a first name basis.”

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With the June 4 Democratic primaries fast approaching, campaign volunteers for Menendez, 38, have peppered utility poles throughout his district with barely-legible political posters.
The offices of both Bob and Rob Menendez did not respond to The Post’s repeated requests for comment.
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His dad, Bob Menendez, is being tried on federal bribery charges. AP
The congressman represents New Jersey’s Eighth Congressional District, which includes most of Hudson County, and parts of Newark and Elizabeth. He first took office in early 2023, after running with signs that displayed his first and last names in the same-sized font.
Sen. Menendez’s trial began last week in Manhattan federal court, when jurors were shown dozens of photos taken inside the Garden State Democrat’s Englewood Cliffs house during a June 2022 raid by the FBI.
The pictures, presented in court last week, show gold bars, stacks of cash inside various bags — and even a pile of money stowed inside a well-worn brown Timberland work boot.
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Then-Congressman elect Rob Menendez speaks after his win in November 2022. instagram @robmenendez4nj
Menendez and his wife are charged with a slew of corruption and bribery crimes for allegedly pocketing the gold, cash, a Mercedes convertible and other luxury gifts.
In exchange, prosecutors say that Menendez, 70, used the power of his office, including heading the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, to dole out favors for the governments of Egypt and Qatar as well as three prominent New Jersey businessmen.
Menendez — who dodged an unrelated corruption conviction after a mistrial in 2017 — stepped down from the Foreign Relations Committee following the new charges.
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Menendez’ signs blanket parts of Jersey City. Obtained by The New York Post
The latest polling gives Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla a five-point lead over Menendez.



In 2022, Menendez enjoyed a landslide victory over Republican nominee Marcos Arroyo, securing nearly 74-percent of the vote.


The elder Menendez announced in March he would not be seeking re-election.

 

[The Bobster]

Rep. Robert Menendez Jr. projected to defeat Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla for New Jersey's 8th Congressional District

CBS News projects that Rep. Robert Menendez Jr., son of indicted Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey, has defeated Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla in New Jersey's 8th Congressional District race.

www.cbsnews.com

Pumpkinhead Jr. projected to defeat Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla for New Jersey's 8th Congressional District​

By Dick Brennan

Updated on: June 4, 2024 / 11:29 PM EDT / CBS New York

JERSEY CITY, N.J. -- CBS News projects that Rep. Robert Menendez Jr., son of indicted Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey, has defeated Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla in New Jersey's 8th Congressional District race.

With 71% of votes counted, Menendez Jr. was defeating Bhalla by a margin of 54% to 34%. The latest numbers can be found on CBS New York's results page.

Menendez Jr. swept to an easy victory after a very hard-fought primary race.

He had squared off against Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla.

Bhalla tried to link Menendez Jr. to his scandal-scarred father, Sen. Bob Menendez, who is on trial for corruption charges, and Menendez Jr. hit back at Bhalla's ethics issues, including that he once lost his law license in New York for a period of time.

Despite a sometimes bitter campaign of accusations on both sides, Menendez Jr. will be on the Democratic ballot in November.

Both candidates spoke out Tuesday night.

"When you look at the success that we had tonight, it's because look at this room. We built a coalition that could withstand some of the most vile things that could be thrown at a candidate. We didn't just deal with ads, we dealt with straight up lies. We dealt with whatever you can throw at someone and we withstood it all, and we are here tonight victorious," Menendez Jr. said.

"I'm very, very proud of everybody in this room because we shook up the system through this election," Bhalla said. "This is part of a larger movement for change, a larger movement to uplift people, a larger movement to get people who don't have a voice."




Menendez Jr. says the fight will continue.

The 8th Congressional District is a blue district where the Democrat has a strong edge in November.

In the Senate primary, Democrat Andy Kim and Republican Curtis Bashaw are the projected winners.

 

[The Bobster]

Sen. Bob Menendez allegedly bragged to NJ businessman who bought wife Mercedes: ‘I saved your ass’

Sen. Bob Menendez boasted that he saved the “ass” of a New Jersey insurance broker who bought his wife a new Mercedes in exchange for help killing a state criminal probe, a court heard …

nypost.com

Sen. Bob Menendez allegedly bragged to NJ businessman who bought wife Mercedes: ‘I saved your ass’​

By
Social Links for Ben Kochman



Published June 10, 2024, 6:50 p.m. ET











Sen. Bob "Pumpkinhead" Menendez boasted that he saved the “ass” of a New Jersey insurance broker who bought his wife a new Mercedes in exchange for help killing a state criminal probe — part of a plot hatched over cognac and at swanky New Jersey eateries, a court heard Monday.


“I saved your ass, not once but twice,” the Garden State Democrat bragged to Jose Uribe during an August 2020 dinner at the upscale Spanish restaurant Segovia in north Jersey, Uribe testified at Menendez’s bribery trial in Manhattan federal court.


Menendez, 70, was allegedly crowing about tampering with state officials on behalf of Uribe’s friend Elvis Parra, who received a no-jail sentence after pleading guilty to insurance fraud, and interfering with a second probe that threatened to ensnare Uribe’s relatives, the key prosecution witness said.


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New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez told insurance broker Juan Uribe he “saved his ass” after he killed a state criminal probe, according to testimony from Uribe. AP Photo/Larry Newmeister
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Uribe claimed that Menendez made the statement during an August 2020 dinner. AP Photo/Larry Newmeister


“He was proud and confident that he managed to get this done,” Uribe testified.

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Uribe, 57, described several in-person meetings with the veteran pol — some that appeared straight out of a mob movie — that could prove pivotal to the case, given that the senator’s lawyers have blamed the bribes on Menendez’s wife and claimed that she “sidelined” him.


Menendez “knew of the names” of people Uribe wanted him to interfere on behalf of, the witness said while describing an August 2019 meeting with the senator at the white tablecloth Il Villaggio restaurant in Bergen County


“We will look into it,” Uribe testified that Menendez told him.


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Uribe allegedly bought Menendez’s wife a Mercedes in exchange for the favor. Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
Menendez, wearing a dark blue suit and pink tie, shook his head and muttered something to his lawyers as Uribe described the dinner at the Italian eatery.


Uribe was then invited to the Menendez couple’s Edgewater Cliffs home on Sept.5, 2019, he testified.


As he swigged glasses of Grand Marnier and smoked cigars with the senator in the backyard, Menendez rung a small bell and said “mon amour” — “my love” in French — to summon Nadine into the room, Uribe said.

​

Nadine then produced a piece of paper, on which Uribe wrote the names of people he wanted to see dodge prosecution, he said.


The senator folded up the piece of paper and put it in his pocket, Uribe testified.


The next morning, the senator allegedly pressured ex-New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal to speak about an active criminal probe at a meeting that the top prosecutor’s deputy called “gross,” Grewal testified.


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Uribe testified that Menendez was “proud and confident” about tampering with state officials. Elizabeth Williams via AP
“I can’t talk to you about this,” Grewal recalled telling the powerful then-head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.


In what was his second day on the stand, Uribe also testified that he handed Nadine Menendez an envelope stuffed with $15,000 — the first payment toward the Mercedes convertible — in the parking lot of Italian restaurant Villa Amalfi in April 2019.


Nadine and intermediary Wael Hana, who is also facing trial, had allegedly passed on the names of the people Uribe wanted to “kill” the state probes of to the senator, Uribe testified Friday.


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Menendez leaving Manhattan federal court on June 10, 2024. AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah
Hana had told Uribe that he had “a way to make these things go away” for around $200,000 or $250,000,” Uribe told jurors.


“Nadine will work with — go to Senator Menendez,” Uribe testified.




Menendez’s lawyer began cross-examining Uribe Monday afternoon, and will continue on Tuesday morning.


New Jersey’s senior senator and his wife Nadine are accused of accepting the luxury car, more than $150,000 in gold bars, $566,000 in cash payments and other gifts in exchange for favors to local businessmen and the governments of Egypt and Qatar.


Uribe — who lost his insurance broker license after being convicted of fraud in 2011 — pleaded guilty in March and agreed to flip on Menendez, who has refused to resign from the Senate even after both Democrats and Republicans have urged him to step aside.

 

[The Bobster]

Sen. Bob Menendez ‘put his power up for sale’ in exchange for gold bar bribes, feds say in closing arguments

Sen. Bob Menendez abused his powerful post to scoop up stacks of cash and gold bars in exchange for serving the whims of New Jersey businessmen and foreign governments, federal prosecutors said Mon…

nypost.com

Sen. Bob Menendez ‘put his power up for sale’ in exchange for gold bar bribes, feds say in closing arguments​

By
Social Links for Ben Kochman



Published July 8, 2024, 7:04 p.m. ET













Sen. Bob "Pumpkinhead" Menendez abused his powerful post to scoop up stacks of cash and gold bars in exchange for serving the whims of New Jersey businessmen and foreign governments, federal prosecutors said Monday as the veteran pol’s bribery trial neared its end.
The embattled Garden State Democrat “put his power up for sale,” prosecutor Paul Monteleoni told jurors during closing arguments at Menendez’s two-month-long trial in Manhattan federal court.
Menendez, 70, leveraged his position as the head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee — tasked with approving millions of dollars in US military aid — to “pile up riches,” the prosecutor said.
“Mr. Menendez sold the power of his office to take official action,” Monteleoni told jurors. “You saw, again and again, a clear pattern of corruption.”
4
Sen. Menendez has maintained his innocence on the blockbuster bribery charges, and is running for reelection. Gregory P. Mango

The feds discovered 13 gold bars worth $150,000 and $486,461 in cash — including bills stuffed inside the senator’s official government windbreaker and a Timberland boot — when they raided Menendez’s Englewood Cliffs home in June 2022.

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Serial numbers on the gold bars and fingerprints on the cash-filled envelopes tie the stash to New Jersey real estate mogul Fred Daibes and businessman Wael Hana, who are also charged as part of the bribery conspiracy, prosecutors said.
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The FBI recovered more than $150,000 worth of gold bars from the Menendez home when they raided it in June 2022. AP
In exchange for those gifts, and other goodies like a $120,000-a year no-show job for his wife Nadine Menendez, the lawmaker pressured the Department of Agriculture to protect Hana’s cushy “monopoly” on approving halal meat exports to Egypt, the prosecutor alleged.
Hana served as a middleman between Bob Menendez and Egypt while the senator doled out favors to the country — such as ghostwriting a letter urging the US government to unfreeze $300 million in aid that had been held up amid human rights concerns, Monteleoni said.
“Why did Daibes and Hana shower Menendez and his wife with these valuables? What were they getting? The promise of power,” Monteleoni said.
Menendez allegedly recommended US Attorney Philip Sellinger for his coveted role as New Jersey’s top federal prosecutor after trying to discuss a pending bank fraud case against Daibes with him, Sellinger testified.
New Jersey insurance broker Jose Uribe, a close colleague of Hana’s, also testified during the trial that he bought the senator’s wife a new Mercedes convertible in exchange for her husband’s help killing a state criminal probe, as part of a plot hatched over glasses of Cognac and dinners at swanky Garden State eateries.
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The senator’s lawyers have claimed that the gold bars in their Englewood Hills home all belonged to his wife Nadine. Ting Shen/POOL/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
“I saved your ass, not once but twice,” Menendez allegedly bragged to Uribe during one such dinner, at the upscale Spanish restaurant Segovia in north Jersey — in a scene that appeared pulled straight out of a mediocre mob movie.
Lawyers for Menendez, who are expected to deliver their closing statement Tuesday, have said that the gold bars all belonged to his wife Nadine, who they claimed “sidelined” her hubby from the alleged bribery scheme.
But Monteleoni argued Monday that trial evidence shows that the senator was the one pulling the strings, and that his wife served as his “go-between” connecting him with the men paying the bribes.
“You don’t get to be the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee by being clueless,” he told jurors.
Menendez sat Monday at the defense table in a dark blue suit and light blue tie, tapping the side of his chair with his right hand, as the prosecutor spoke for two-and-a-half hours.
“The government is intoxicated by their own rhetoric,” the senator said as he left court before stepping into a waiting car.
His attorneys called five people to the stand, including the senator’s older sister, who testified that it was “normal” for her brother — and all people of Cuban heritage — to hoard stacks of cash.
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The senator had hundreds of thousands of dollars of cash in his home, including in his official government windbreaker. AP
“It’s a Cuban thing,” said 80-year-old Caridad Gonzalez, adding that her “baby brother,” who was born in Manhattan, inherited a distrust of banks from his father, who ran a successful bowtie business in Cuba before it was destroyed by local authorities.
Nadine Menedez’s sister, Katia Tabourian, testified that it was normal for members of her family, which hails from Lebanon, Armenia and Cyprus, to exchange gold bars and other jewelry as gifts.



The senator did not testify. He claimed outside court last week that prosecutors “had failed to prove every aspect of their case.”


Menendez has refused to step down from office with the case pending and is running as an independent after losing June’s Democratic Primary to Rep. Andy Kim (D-NJ) in a landslide.


The case is Menendez’ second time facing federal corruption charges, after a prior case tried in New Jersey ended with a hung jury in 2017.

 

[The Bobster]

Feds blast ‘Gold Bar Bob’ Menendez’s blame-his-wife defense at bribery trial

Sen. Bob Menendez’s brazen plot to blame his wife for his sprawling bribery scheme is merely a “desperate” plea to dodge responsibility himself, federal prosecutors argued Tuesday…

nypost.com

Feds blast ‘Gold Bar Bob’ Menendez’s blame-his-wife defense at bribery trial​

By
Social Links for Ben Kochman



Published July 9, 2024, 6:31 p.m. ET













Sen. Bob Menendez’s brazen plot to blame his wife for his sprawling bribery scheme is merely a “desperate” plea to dodge responsibility himself, federal prosecutors argued Tuesday.
“There is no way that she could pull the wool over his eyes so that he didn’t know what she was doing,” prosecutor Paul Monteleoni told jurors Tuesday in Manhattan federal court of the New Jersey lawmaker’s wife, Nadine Menendez.
The senator is charged with accepting gold bars and cash in exchange for favors to businessmen and the governments of Egypt and Qatar.
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Sen. Bob Menendez arriving at federal court in Manhattan on July 9, 2024. AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura
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Federal prosecutors argued that Menendez’s claim that his wife is responsible for his alleged bribery scheme is a “desperate” plea to avoid taking responsibility.

“Throughout this trial, you have heard that everyone is to blame but Menendez,” Monteleoni added, accusing the embattled Democrat of “trying desperately to pass the buck.”

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At the end of a nearly six-hour closing statement delivered over two days, the prosecutor repeated the phrase “blaming his wife” five times to remind jurors that Menendez’s lawyers have claimed that Nadine “sidelined” him from the scheme and stashed the gold bars in her safe without his knowledge.
“He’s blaming his wife for what’s in their bedroom closet,” Monteleoni said, referring to the $150,000 worth of gold, and envelopes stuffed with cash that FBI agents found in their Englewood Hills, NJ home in a June 2022 raid.
The prosecutor also brought up a witness’s testimony that the senator once rung a small bell to summon his wife onto their patio after calling her “mon amour” — “my love” in French — as evidence that Menendez was the one “in charge” of the bribery plot.
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Menendez allegedly accepted cash and gold bars from businessmen from Egypt and Qatar. US District Court
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Cash found inside a jacket during a search of Menendez’s home by federal agents. U.S. Attorney's Office via AP
“He’s not a puppet having his strings pulled by someone he summons with a bell,” Monteleoni said.
Menendez, 70, faces a potential decades-long prison sentence if he’s convicted on the bribery charges and on charges that he acted as an illegal foreign agent of Egypt and Qatar.
Prosecutors called 30 witnesses during the two-month-long trial, including the New Jersey insurance broker Jose Uribe, who testified that he bought Nadine a new Mercedes convertible in exchange for a promise that her husband would interfere in state criminal probes affecting his friends and relatives.
“If you are just a member of the public, he won’t do anything for you,” Monteleoni said Tuesday. “But if you promise a Mercedes to his girlfriend, all you have to do is tell Menendez a name.”
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Jose Uribe testified that he bought Menendez’s wife a car in return for the senator interfering in state criminal probes. Elizabeth Williams via AP
Menendez also pressured the Agriculture Department to protect his co-defendant Wael Hana’s lucrative “monopoly” on approving halal meat exports to Egypt — which Hana was granted despite having no prior halal experience — in exchange for gold bars and a $120,000-a-year no-show job for Nadine, prosecutors say.
A lawyer for “Gold Bar Bob” Menendez, Adam Fee, paced up and down the side of the jury box Tuesday afternoon while accusing the feds of “ignoring the evidence that is bad for their story” and criminalizing the “normal” work of a senator.
“The simple truth is his actions were lawful, normal and good for his constituents and his country,” Fee argued.
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Co-defendant Wael Hana arriving at Manhattan Federal Court on July 9, 2024. Photo by ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images
The attorney also ridiculed the feds’ repeated use of the term “bribe” to describe evidence that the senator wielded his influence to benefit his cronies — whose fingerprints were on the envelopes of cash found in his home.
“These guys are saying the word ‘bribe’ a lot,” Fee told jurors.
“It’s a bribe!”” he added, raising his voice in a mocking tone.
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Prosecutors accused Menendez of “trying desperately to pass the buck.” AP
Menendez, who has maintained his innocence and did not testify, sat calmly Tuesday in a dark blue suit and pink tie, looking in the direction of the jury while his lawyer spoke.
His daughter Alicia Menendez, an anchor at MSNBC, looked on from the first row of the courtroom gallery behind him.



Fee spoke for nearly three hours Tuesday afternoon before the court broke for the day.


The defense attorney will finish his closing statement Wednesday morning, before lawyers for Hana and a third co-defendant, real estate mogul Fred Daibes, deliver their own statement.


The feds will then get a chance to deliver a final rebuttal.


Menendez has refused to step down from office and has announced plans to run for re-election as an independent, which could take away some votes from Democrat Rep. Andy Kim, who trounced Menendez in June’s primary.

 

[The Bobster]

Sen. Bob Menendez ‘has faith in God and the jury’ as panel deliberates in corruption case

“I have faith in God and the jury,” the embattled Democrat said in both English and Spanish before leaving.

nypost.com

Sen. Bob Menendez ‘has faith in God and the jury’ as panel deliberates in corruption case​

By
Social Links for Ben Kochman



Published July 12, 2024, 8:39 p.m. ET













He’s singing their praises.
New Jersey Sen. Bob "Pumpkinhead" Menendez said Friday that he was leaning on his faith as he left Manhattan federal court, where jurors in his high-stakes bribery trial deliberated for three hours without reaching a verdict.
“I have faith in God and the jury,” the embattled Democrat said in both English and Spanish before stepping into a waiting black Lincoln sedan.

New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez said Friday that he was leaning on his faith as he left Manhattan federal court, where jurors in his high-stakes bribery trial deliberated for three hours without reaching a verdict. Brigitte Stelzer
A panel of six men and six women began huddling inside the courthouse just after 2 p.m. to decide whether to convict Menendez, 70, of accepting bribes as part of a sprawling scheme to scoop up gold bars, cash and other goodies while catering to the whims of three Garden State businessmen and the Egyptian and Qatari governments.




The jury left for the day shortly after 5 p.m., and will resume deliberations Monday morning.

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The senator — who’s been spotted belting out show tunes in court to calm his nerves — is charged with leveraging his powerful post as head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to tamper in state and federal probes, protect a shady halal meat monopoly, and act as an illegal foreign agent of Egypt and Qatar while businessmen Wael Hana, Fred Daibes and Jose Uribe showered him and his wife with bribes.


Jurors are weighing whether to find him guilty of 16 different felonies, including bribery, extortion and obstructing justice.


The top counts he faces carry a possible sentence of up to 20 years in prison.


Hana, 40, and Daibes, 64, are also charged in connection to the alleged bribery plot.

“I have faith in God and the jury,” the embattled Democrat said in both English and Spanish before stepping into a waiting black Lincoln sedan. Brigitte Stelzer
Menendez’s wife Nadine Menendez, 57, also faces charges, but her case was severed from her husband’s and pushed back until later this year while she recovers from breast cancer.


Uribe, a disgraced insurance broker and convicted fraudster, pleaded guilty earlier this year and testified during the trial that he bought Nadine a new Mercedes in exchange for promises that the senator would tamper with state criminal probes into his close colleagues.




Menendez has refused to resign from his Senate post and has maintained his innocence.
His lawyers have used a “blame-my-wife” defense, arguing that Nadine kept him in the dark about asking Hana, Daibes and Uribe for the payoffs.
Lawyers for Daibes and Hana have argued that the cash and gold bars were “gifts,” and not illegal bribes.

 

[The Bobster]

After guilty verdict, calls mount for Sen. Bob Menendez to resign. Here's what he has to say.

Sen. Bob Menendez has been convicted on federal bribery charges, and pressure is mounting for the New Jersey Democrat to resign.

www.cbsnews.com

After guilty verdict, calls mount for Sen. Bob Menendez to resign. Here's what he has to say.​

By Renee Anderson

Updated on: July 16, 2024 / 2:50 PM EDT / CBS New York

NEW YORK -- U.S. Sen. Bob "Pumpkinhead" Menendez has been convicted on federal bribery charges, and pressure is mounting for him to resign.

The New Jersey Democrat was found guilty Tuesday, following more than nine weeks of testimony.

After the verdict, Gov. Phil Murphy released a statement, reading in part, "I reiterate my call for Senator Menendez to resign immediately after being found guilty of endangering national security and the integrity of our criminal justice system."

The governor said if Menendez refuses to step down, he will call for a vote to expel him.

"In the event of a vacancy, I will exercise my duty to make a temporary appointment to ensure the people of New Jersey have the representation they deserve," Murphy's statement continued.

 

[The Bobster]

Sen. Bob Menendez faces decades in prison as he’s convicted of sprawling gold bar bribery scheme

Sen. Robert Menendez has been found guilty of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars of bribes in exchange for using his powerful post to enrich and protect three businessmen and the Egyptian a…

nypost.com

Sen. Bob Menendez faces decades in prison as he’s convicted of sprawling gold bar bribery scheme​

By
Social Links for Ben Kochman and
Social Links for Kyle Schnitzer



Published July 16, 2024

Updated July 16, 2024, 1:12 p.m. ET













He’s a newly minted felon.
New Jersey Sen. Robert "Pumpkinhead" Menendez was found guilty Tuesday of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars of bribes — including 1-kilogram gold bars — in exchange for using his powerful post to enrich and protect three businessmen and the Egyptian and Qatari governments.
Menendez, 70, wearing a blue suit and pink tie, sat with his head bowed at the defense table and kept a poker face while the jury forewoman read the word “guilty” 18 times, for each count that he and his two co-defendants faced.
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Sen. Robert Menendez was found guilty of accepting bribes. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
The bombshell verdict was delivered in Manhattan federal court after about 12½ hours of deliberations spread over three days. It capped a nine-week trial that revealed how the senator leveraged his position to cater to the whims of men who showered him and his wife with gold, cash and gifts including a Mercedes-Benz convertible.

“This wasn’t politics as usual. This was politics for profit,” US Attorney Damian Williams told reporters outside court following the verdict.
Menendez’s conviction immediately added fuel to calls for the three-term senator — who has proclaimed his innocence and claimed he was targeted because he’s a prominent Latino — to resign from Congress.

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Within an hour of the decision, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) demanded Menendez’s resignation, saying: “In light of this guilty verdict, Senator Menendez must now do what is right for his constituents, the Senate, and our country, and resign.”
Menendez’s indictment last September took a political toll, and led to him stepping down from his post as chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was trounced in June’s Democratic primary by Rep. Andy Kim (D-NJ) and has announced plans to run in November’s general election as an independent candidate instead.
“I’m deeply, deeply disappointed by the jury’s decision. I have every faith that the law and the facts are not sustained with that decision, and that we will be successful upon appeal,” Menendez said outside court, while insisting “I have never violated my public oath.”
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Menendez leaves court after being found guilty on July 16, 2024. William Farrington
He ignored questions from reporters about whether he would step down.
Menendez faces what could amount to a life sentence — with some of the counts carrying a possible term of up to 20 years behind bars — when he learns his fate Oct. 29.
The trial was his second time facing federal corruption charges.
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Menendez accepted cash and gold bars from businessmen and representatives from the Egyptian and Qatari governments. U.S. Attorney's Office via AP
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Cash found in a jacket during a search of Menendez’s home by federal agents. U.S. Attorney's Office via AP
An earlier case in which the senator was charged by New Jersey federal prosecutors with accepting lavish bribes — including all-expense-paid vacations and private flights — in exchange for doling out favors to a Palm Beach doctor ended in a mistrial in 2017.
The charges a jury of 12 New Yorkers convicted him of in the Manhattan case included bribery, extortion, obstructing justice and acting as an illegal foreign agent.
“Mr. Menendez sold the power of his office,” prosecutor Paul Monteleoni told jurors in the government’s closing statement.
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Cash found in a shoe druing a search of Menendez’s home.
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A pile of cash found during the search.
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Boxes of jewelery found in Menendez’s home.
“It wasn’t enough for him to be one of the most powerful people in Washington,” Monteleoni said. “It wasn’t enough for him to be entrusted by the public with the power to approve billions of dollars of US military aid to foreign countries.
“Robert Menendez wanted all that power — but he also wanted to use it to pile up riches for himself and his wife.”
His attorneys tried to poke holes in the government’s case by arguing that Menendez’s “beautiful, tall” wife Nadine had “kept him in the dark” about what she was asking co-defendants Wael Hana, 40, and Fred Daibes, 66, to give her.
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A businessman testified that he bought Menendez’s wife Nadine a Mercedes. AP Photo/Jeenah Moon, File
But Manhattan federal prosecutors detailed a dizzying array of actions Menendez took between 2018 and 2022 on behalf of his cronies, including a disgraced New Jersey insurance broker who bought Nadine a new Mercedes-Benz C-300 in exchange for help scuttling state criminal probes.
“I saved your ass, not once but twice,” the Garden State pol bragged to Jose Uribe — who pleaded guilty and flipped on Menendez — during an August 2020 dinner at the North Jersey restaurant Segovia, Uribe testified.
“Congratulations mon amour de la vie, we are the proud owners of a 2019 Mercedes,” Nadine Menendez texted her husband after receiving the first payment toward the new car, using the French phrase for “love of my life.” She added a heart emoji at the end of the message.
Uribe told Menendez the name of a man being probed by state authorities, and the morning after, Menendez pressured New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal to speak about the active criminal probe, Grewal testified.
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New Jersey businessman Jose Uribe testified that he bought Menendez’s wife Nadine a Mercedes. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
“Whoa, that was gross,” Grewal’s deputy said after the September 2019 meeting in the senator’s Newark office, trial testimony revealed.
Hana, a businessman, also funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars of cash and gold to the senator while Menendez did favors for Egypt including ghostwriting a letter asking the US to unfreeze $300 million in military aid that had been held up due to human rights concerns, prosecutors said.
Menendez also leaned on an Agriculture Department official to protect Hana’s lucrative monopoly on approving halal meat exports to Egypt, evidence revealed.
In exchange, Hana gave Nadine Menendez a no-show job worth $120,000 per year, prosecutors said.
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Co-defendant Wael Hana arriving at court on July 16, 2024. Photo by Adam Gray/Getty Images
“What else can the love of my life do for you?” Nadine told an Egyptian official while the senator smoked cigars and swigged red wine during a May 2019 meeting at Morton’s Steakhouse, an FBI agent who secretly observed the scene testified.
The senator also traded gold bars and cash for trying to meddle in a federal bank fraud case against Daibes and setting up a meeting between the real estate mogul and a member of the Qatari ruling family, prosecutors said.
Gold bars in the Menendezes’ safe had serial numbers linking them to Daibes, while envelopes of cash bore fingerprints tying them to both him and Hana, trial evidence showed.
Hana and Daibes were both also convicted on Tuesday, and each face up to 20 years in prison on the top count when they are also sentenced on Oct. 29.
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Federal prosecutors accused Menendez of blaming his wife for the bribes. Elizabeth Williams via AP
When asked by reporters how he felt about the guilty verdict as he left court for the day, Daibes responded, “Not good,” while flashing a half-smile. Hana declined to comment.
Menendez’s attorneys had claimed the feds tried to dazzle jurors with the gold and cash found in their client’s home to overcompensate for a “thin” case relying on scant evidence that the senator had taken “official acts” in exchange for the bribes.
“The core of this case is hollow,” Menendez’s lawyer Adam Fee said in his closing statement.

​

He called the prosecutors “overzealous” and claimed that Menendez’s actions were, in fact, “exactly what we want our elected officials to do.”


The defense called three witnesses, including the senator’s older sister, who testified that Menendez’s decades-long habit of stashing cash was part of a “normal” distrust of banks stemming from his Cuban heritage.



“It’s a Cuban thing,” Caridad Gonzalez testified.


Nadine Menendez, 57, is slated to go on trial separately from her husband.


But her trial date has been delayed indefinitely while she recovers from breast cancer surgery, court records show.

 

[The Bobster]

Sen. Bob Menendez refutes reports he's resigning following guilty verdict in bribery trial

Sen. Bob Menendez is refuting reports that he's planning to resign after he was convicted on federal bribery charges.

www.cbsnews.com

Sen. Bob Menendez refutes reports he's resigning following guilty verdict in bribery trial​

By Christine Sloan, Katie Houlis

Updated on: July 17, 2024 / 8:30 PM EDT / CBS New York

NEW YORK -- Sen. Bob "Pumpkinhead" Menendez is refuting reports that he's planning to resign after he was convicted on federal bribery charges.

"I can tell you that I have not resigned nor have I spoken to any so called allies ... Seems to me that there is an effort to try to force me into a statement. Anyone who knows me knows that's the worst way to achieve a goal with me," Menendez told CBS New York's Christine Sloan on Wednesday.

For months, Menendez, 70, has been facing pressure to step down. A chorus of New Jersey Democrats began urging him to resign when the indictment was first unsealed, including Gov. Phil Murphy and Sen. Cory Booker, New Jersey's other U.S. senator.

Tuesday, a federal jury convicted Menendez on all 16 felony counts in the 18-count indictment. He was charged with bribery, extortion under color of official right and public official acting as a foreign agent, among other counts.

He was accused of accepting lavish bribes, like gold bars, in exchange for political influence, allegedly acting as a foreign agent to benefit the governments of Egypt and Qatar, as well as three New Jersey businessmen.


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Menendez continues to vehemently deny the charges and plans to appeal. His sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 29. He could face decades behind bars.

The governor has called on the Senate to vote to expel Menendez if he refuses to step down. A two-thirds vote would be needed for his expulsion.

 

[The Bobster]

Sen. Cory Booker vows to lead expulsion if Sen. Bob Menendez doesn't resign

Pressure is mounting on convicted felon Bob Menendez to resign from the U.S. Senate, but not everyone thinks he will.

www.cbsnews.com

Sen. Cory Booker vows to lead expulsion if Sen. Bob Menendez doesn't resign​

By Christine Sloan

July 17, 2024 / 5:39 PM EDT / CBS New York

TRENTON, N.J. -- Demands are growing for Sen. Bob Menendez to resign after being found guilty Tuesday on all 16 counts in his corruption trial.

The charges included bribery, conspiracy, and working as a foreign agent for the governments of Egypt and Qatar.

The 70-year-old Democrat is facing decades behind bars.

All of that has prompted Cory Booker, New Jersey's other U.S. senator, to issue an ultimatum: step down now or be forced out. Booker said in a television interview he'll lead an expulsion of Menendez.

"He must stand up now and leave the Senate, and if he refuses to do that, many of us ... and I will lead that effort to make sure he's removed from the Senate," Booker said.




Sources in Washington told CBS New York that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will wait until next week when the Senate is back in session to test the sentiment for expulsion.

A two-thirds vote would be needed to expel Menendez.

Other Democrats, from New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy to party leaders, are also saying the convicted felon has to go.

"He violated trust and, you know, now it's time to go," Democratic State Committee Chair LeRoy Jones said. "So resignation should be the dignified way to go out."




Menendez, however, said the jury got it wrong on Tuesday and he has vowed to appeal.

"I have never violated my public oath. I have never been anything but a patriot of my country and for my county," Menendez said.

"I think he is convinced of his innocence"​

Max Pizarro, with the political website Insider NJ, has covered Menendez for years.

"I don't think he is going to resign. I think he is convinced of his innocence," Pizarro said.

Pizarro said Democrats also fear they could lose the Senate seat. Menendez has vowed to run for reelection as an independent, which allows him to use campaign money for his defense.

If Menendez resigns, Gov. Murphy has the power to name his replacement.

"The person likely to be appointed is U.S. Congressman Andy Kim because he won the Democratic primary for the seat," Pizarro said. "Democrats in New Jersey feel threatened. Moreover, Bob Menendez in the race, Bob Menendez not going away, further complicates this race which is seen to be close."