{"id":2243227,"date":"2024-05-13T06:07:02","date_gmt":"2024-05-13T10:07:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/sen-bob-menendez-corruption-trial-begins-in-new-york\/"},"modified":"2024-05-13T06:07:38","modified_gmt":"2024-05-13T10:07:38","slug":"sen-bob-menendez-corruption-trial-begins-in-new-york","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/sen-bob-menendez-corruption-trial-begins-in-new-york\/","title":{"rendered":"Senator Bob Menendez&#8217;s corruption trial commences in New York"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fsen-bob-menendez-corruption-trial-begins-in-new-york%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2243227&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Senator Bob \u2064Menendez (D-NJ) is set to head to a Manhattan courthouse for his criminal trial following charges of bribery and acting\u2064 as a foreign agent for \u2062Egypt and Qatar. The trial begins with jury selection and may span multiple days during\u2063 the Senate session. \u200cMenendez\u200c faces an\u2063 expanded\u2062 indictment alleging involvement with businessmen and obstruction of justice. His\u200d defense strategy may involve his wife Nadine, who faces \u200cseparate \u2064charges. The\u200c trial includes 15 charges against Menendez and 14 \u2062against Nadine.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Sen. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/bob-menendez\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Bob Menendez<\/a> (D-NJ) will appear Monday at a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/manhattan\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Manhattan<\/a> courthouse for his criminal trial after he was charged by the Department of Justice with accepting bribes and illegally acting as a foreign agent on behalf of Egypt and Qatar.<\/p>\n<p>The trial will begin with jury selection and is expected to overlap with several days that the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/Senate\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Senate<\/a> is in session.<\/p>\n<p>Menendez has not decided whether he will take the witness stand in his trial but plans to be present every day for the proceedings \u201csubject to the schedule,\u201d he recently <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CBSNews\/status\/1788660532788023367\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">told<\/a> a reporter. Criminal defendants are typically required to be present for trials.<\/p>\n<p>Menendez, his wife, and three businessmen were indicted last fall on corruption charges. The U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office for the Southern District of New York alleged that Menendez accepted bribes in exchange for using his influence as the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to benefit the Egyptian government.<\/p>\n<p>The bribes included hundreds of thousands of dollars in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/money\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>cash<\/a>, gold bars, mortgage payments, a luxury vehicle, and more.<\/p>\n<figure><figcaption>FILE \u2013 Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey and his wife Nadine Menendez arrive at the federal courthouse in New York, Sept. 27, 2023. New obstruction of justice crimes were added Tuesday, March 5, 2024, to charges against Menendez and his wife that allege they accepted gold bars, cash and a luxury car in return for favors the senator carried out to assist three businessmen. Both have pleaded not guilty. (AP Photo\/Jeenah Moon, File)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Menendez allegedly accepted bribes from three businessmen, Wael Hana, Fred Daibes, and Jose Uribe, and also used his political influence to enrich and protect them.<\/p>\n<p>The indictment was later expanded to include allegations that Menendez also helped the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/Qatar\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Qatari<\/a> government and obstructed justice.<\/p>\n<p>Four of the five defendants have pleaded not guilty. The fifth defendant, Uribe, pleaded guilty in May, and part of his plea deal involved cooperating with prosecutors and agreeing to testify against Menendez at trial, according to the agreement.<\/p>\n<p>Menendez is facing 15 charges, including bribery, honest services fraud, obstruction of justice, extortion, and Foreign Agents Registration Act violations.<\/p>\n<p>His wife Nadine, who will be tried separately this summer because of health reasons, is facing 14 charges.<\/p>\n<p>A court filing unsealed last month revealed that Menendez\u2019s defense strategy could\u00a0involve blaming his wife.<\/p>\n<figure><figcaption>Nadine Menendez, wife of Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., leaves Manhattan federal court, Thursday, March. 21, 2024. (AP Photo\/Yuki Iwamura)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cWhile these explanations, and the marital communications on which they rely, will tend to exonerate Senator Menendez by demonstrating the absence of any improper intent on Senator Menendez\u2019s part, they may inculpate Nadine by demonstrating the ways in which she withheld information from Senator Menendez or otherwise led him to believe that nothing unlawful was taking place,\u201d the filing stated.<\/p>\n<p>Menendez also urged a judge to allow him to call a forensic psychiatrist to testify as an expert witness about two \u201csignificant traumatic events\u201d Menendez experienced that caused him to develop a mental condition, according to court filings. The specific condition was redacted but was related to his parents fleeing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/Cuba\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Cuba<\/a> and his father\u2019s suicide, the filings showed.<\/p>\n<p>Menendez\u2019s attorneys argued that the psychiatrist would testify first about how Menendez suffered \u201cintergenerational trauma\u201d because his parents had their money confiscated by the Cuban government. Menendez now has a \u201cfear of scarcity\u201d and a \u201clongstanding coping mechanism of routinely withdrawing and storing cash in his home,\u201d the attorneys wrote.<\/p>\n<p>Secondly, the expert would speak about how Menendez\u2019s father was a compulsive gambler who died by suicide after Menendez stopped paying off his debts, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/lawyers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>attorneys<\/a> wrote.<\/p>\n<p>The witness could provide the jury with a \u201cbenign explanation\u201d for Menendez\u2019s cash withdrawal habits, his attorneys said.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/justice-department\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>DOJ<\/a> has argued against allowing the witness to testify, and the judge has not yet issued a ruling on the matter.<\/p>\n<p>While rare to see a sitting senator on trial, this will not be the first for Menendez. The New Jersey Democrat was tried in 2017 for corruption and bribery charges, and after two and a half months of proceedings, the trial ended with a hung jury.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) faces a criminal trial in a Manhattan courthouse for charges of bribery and unlawful foreign representation. The proceedings, starting with jury selection, are likely to stretch over multiple days, commencing on Monday<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":2243228,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/AP24065769984221.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2243227","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/AP24065769984221.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2243227","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/49"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2243227"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2243227\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2243228"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2243227"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2243227"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2243227"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}