{"id":2246334,"date":"2024-05-16T18:31:02","date_gmt":"2024-05-16T22:31:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bob-menendez-trial-lawyers-for-co-defendants-say-gifts-were-not-criminal\/"},"modified":"2024-05-16T18:32:19","modified_gmt":"2024-05-16T22:32:19","slug":"bob-menendez-trial-lawyers-for-co-defendants-say-gifts-were-not-criminal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bob-menendez-trial-lawyers-for-co-defendants-say-gifts-were-not-criminal\/","title":{"rendered":"Bob Menendez trial: Co-defendants&#8217; lawyers argue gifts were non-criminal"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><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%2Fbob-menendez-trial-lawyers-for-co-defendants-say-gifts-were-not-criminal%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=2246334&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>The trial involving New Jersey\u2063 developer Fred \u2062Daibes, businessman Wael Hana, and Senator Bob Menendez revealed\u2063 the gifting of expensive items, disputed to be \u2064non-bribes. Legal \u2063representatives stressed the innocence of generosity. The case delves into an alleged bribery scheme involving international elements, \u200cshedding light on a senator&#8217;s significant influence. Menendez faces multiple charges, \u200dyet maintains his plea of not guilty as the trial unfolds.  <\/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><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/new-jersey\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"New Jersey\">New Jersey<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-donors-back-efforts-to-recall-calif-gov-newsom\/\" title=\"Trump donors back efforts to recall Calif. Gov. Newsom\">real estate developer<\/a> Fred Daibes and businessman Wael Hana might\u00a0have given<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/bob-menendez\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"U.S.\u00a0Sen. Bob Menendez\"> Sen. Bob Menendez<\/a> (D-NJ) expensive gifts, including a car, cash, and gold bars, but they <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/crime\/3001819\/bob-menendez-corruption-trial-everything-to-know\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"weren't bribes\">weren\u2019t bribes<\/a>, a New York jury heard on Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>There is \u201cnothing criminal about being generous,\u201d Daibes\u2019s lawyer,\u00a0C\u00e9sar de Castro, said. <\/p>\n<figure><figcaption>Assistant U.S. Attorney Lara Pomerantz gives her opening statement while gesturing to Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ), far left, as Judge Sidney Stein presides in Manhattan federal court, Wednesday, May 15, 2024, in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>He added that the senator and real estate developer had known each other for more than 30 years and that prosecutors had twisted the facts to paint his client in a negative light.<\/p>\n<p>Hana\u2019s attorney, Lawrence Lustberg, said prosecutors had built their case on \u201cinnocent acts.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Menendez, Daibes, and Hana are accused of being players in an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/this-insane-2020-time-magazine-article-explains-exactly-why-the-left-fears-losing-twitter\/\" title=\"This Insane 2020 Time Magazine Article Explains Exactly Why The Left Fears Losing Twitter\">international bribery scheme<\/a> that includes a halal meat monopoly, a sheikh, and a Qatari investment. The case also underscores the enormous influence and power a U.S. senator wields. <\/p>\n<p>Menendez has been charged with\u00a0bribery, fraud, extortion, obstruction of justice, and acting as a foreign agent of Egypt. He has pleaded not guilty. <\/p>\n<p>U.S. prosecutor Laura Pomerantz accused Menendez of putting \u201cgreed first\u201d and said he sold out his constituents, during opening arguments. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.paulhastings.com\/professionals\/aviweitzman\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Defense attorney Avi Weitzman<\/a> countered the prosecution\u2019s characterization of Menendez, calling the New Jersey lawmaker an \u201cAmerican patriot\u201d who has been a \u201clifelong public servant.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Menendez\u2019s wife of nearly four years, Nadine Menendez, was also charged, but her trial was delayed until July for health reasons.<\/p>\n<figure><figcaption>Nadine Menendez, wife of Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), leaves Manhattan federal court, Thursday, March. 21, 2024, N.Y. (AP Photo\/Yuki Iwamura)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>On Thursday, Nadine Menendez <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/3006424\/bob-menendezs-wife-undergoing-treatment-for-breast-cancer-amid-senators-corruption-trial\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"revealed\">revealed<\/a> she has breast cancer and will undergo surgery for a mastectomy and \u201cpossibly radiation treatment.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are, of course, concerned about the seriousness and advanced stage of the disease,\u201d he said, adding that he was revealing his wife\u2019s diagnosis after repeated inquiries\u00a0from the media. <\/p>\n<p>A courtroom confrontation between husband and wife would have been awkward at best, as the\u00a0majority of Bob Menendez\u2019s defense is expected to place blame on Nadine Menendez. They have already portrayed\u00a0her\u00a0as being a femme fatale and \u201cgo-between\u201d who duped her lovestruck husband. <\/p>\n<p>The first witness called Thursday for the prosecution was\u00a0Aristotelis Kougemitros, the\u00a0FBI agent who led the 2022 raid at the Menendez home in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. <\/p>\n<p>Kougemitros testified a team of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/all-the-bribes-dem-senator-bullion-bob-menendez-took-and-what-he-did-in-exchange-according-to-prosecutors\/\" title=\"Prosecutors reveal Dem Senator 'Bullion Bob' Menendez's bribery and actions.\">agents found gold bars<\/a> and more than $400,000 in cash, as well as cellphones\u00a0and jewelry during the raid. His testimony was used by prosecutors to cut Bob Menendez\u2019s claims that the infamous gold bars were found in his wife\u2019s closet. <\/p>\n<p>Kougemitros testified\u00a0that one gold bar was found on the floor inside the same closet as a Navy blazer that contained handwritten notes on Senate Democratic Caucus stationery.\u00a0Other gold bars were found in a safe in the\u00a0Menendez home that contained an airline ticket with the senator\u2019s name on it. <\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"CLICK HERE FOR MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER \">CLICK HERE FOR MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER <\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The trial is expected to last seven weeks. It is unclear whether Bob Menendez will testify in his own defense. <\/p>\n<p>Bob Menendez stepped down as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee but has refused to resign from the Senate. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New Jersey developers Fred Daibes and Wael Hana allegedly gifted Sen. Bob Menendez expensive items like a car, cash, and gold bars. The defense argued in court that these were not bribes but gestures of generosity. Attorney C\u00e9sar de Castro emphasized the legality of being charitable, while Assistant U.S. Attorney Lara Pomerantz countered<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2646,"featured_media":2246335,"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\/AP24137763730295.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2246334","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\/AP24137763730295.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2246334","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\/2646"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2246334"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2246334\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2246335"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2246334"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2246334"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2246334"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}