Prosecutors in Sen. Bob Menendez’s bribery trial rest; judge rejects defense request for acquittal

NEW YORK — Prosecutors in the bribery trial of Sen. Bob Menendez wrapped up their case Friday after presenting evidence for seven weeks, allowing lawyers for the New Jersey Democrat and two businessmen to begin calling their own witnesses next week to support their claims that no crimes were committed. and no bribes were paid.

On the final day of direct examination, prosecutors obtained details about the senator’s financial records by questioning an FBI accountant. Judge Sidney H. Stein then dismissed jurors for the weekend. Defense attorneys are scheduled to begin presenting their case Monday in federal court in Manhattan.

Later Friday, Stein rejected requests from lawyers for all three defendants that he acquit their clients, citing the argument that prosecutors did not provide the jury with enough evidence to reach a verdict. Such requests are a routine feature of trials after prosecutors have retired.

Prosecutors say gold bars and hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash found during a raid on Menendez’s home two years ago are bribes paid by the three businessmen between 2018 and 2022 in exchange for favors the senator, using his political power, performed on their behalf.

Defense attorneys say the gold belonged to his wife and Menendez had a habit of keeping the cash at home after his family lost almost everything in Cuba before moving to New York, where Menendez was born.

“The government has not proven its case,” the senator noted as he left the courthouse on Friday afternoon.

Menendez, 70, is on trial with two businessmen after a third pleaded guilty in a cooperation agreement with the government and testified at trial. Menendez’s wife, Nadine Menendez, is also charged in the case, which was unsealed last fall. Her trial has been postponed as she recovers from breast cancer surgery. All the defendants have pleaded not guilty.

Menendez’s attorneys plan to spend up to three days presenting testimony from several witnesses to support their argument that Nadine Menendez, known as Nadine Arslanian, kept him in the dark about her financial problems when she began dating the senator in early 2018. The couple got married in the fall of 2020.

The defense also plans to present testimony that Arslanian was in close contact with the senator at the height of the alleged conspiracy in late 2018 and early 2019 because she was being harassed by her ex-boyfriend.

The judge said Thursday that defense attorneys can obtain testimony about counter-evidence presented by prosecutors that otherwise could be interpreted to suggest that Arslanian and the senator were closely monitoring each other’s movements because they participated in the alleged conspiracy.

But Stein said he would not allow the jury to hear testimony that she had sought treatment at a hospital for an abusive relationship with a former boyfriend. He said Friday that the witness also could not testify about specific acts of stalking or abuse.

“This is not going to be ‘Days of Our Lives’ or some soap opera,” the judge warned lawyers Thursday.

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