'Not a cheap Senator': Bob Menendez blasted after prosecutor claims he ‘put his power up for sale’ at bribery trial

MANHATTAN, NEW YORK: Senator Bob Menendez allegedly misused his influential position to receive money and gold bars in exchange for fulfilling the requests of New Jersey businessmen and foreign governments, according to federal prosecutors.

The veteran politician's bribery trial came to a close after two-month-long proceedings in the Manhattan federal court, per the New York Post.

The prosecutor, Paul Monteleoni, stated during his closing arguments on Monday that the embattled Garden State Democrat “put his power up for sale” and exploited his role as the head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which is tasked with approving millions of dollars in US military aid, in order to “pile up riches.”

“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.”

What were the charges brought against Bob Menendez?

In June 2022, during a raid on Sen Menendez's Englewood Cliffs home, federal authorities found 13 gold bars valued at $150,000 and $486,461 in cash. The cash was discovered in the senator's official government windbreaker and a Timberland boot.

Prosecutors stated that the serial numbers on the gold bars and fingerprints on the cash-filled envelopes linked the stash to Fred Daibes, a New Jersey real estate magnate, and Wael Hana, a businessman, both of whom are charged as part of the bribery conspiracy.

Allegedly, in exchange for these gifts and other benefits, such as a $120,000-per-year no-show job for his wife Nadine Menendez, the former Democrat lawmaker used his influence to pressure the Department of Agriculture to protect Hana's “monopoly” on approving halal meat exports to Egypt.

Hana was said to have acted as a middleman between Sen Bob Menendez and Egypt, with the senator providing favors to the country. This included ghostwriting a letter urging the US government to release $300 million in aid that had been frozen due to human rights concerns.

“Why did Daibes and Hana shower Menendez and his wife with these valuables? What were they getting? The promise of power,” Monteleoni stated.

It was alleged that Sen Menendez recommended US Attorney Philip Sellinger for a top federal prosecutor position after attempting to discuss a pending bank fraud case against Daibes with him, Sellinger testified.

During the trial, New Jersey insurance broker Jose Uribe, a close associate of Hana's, testified that he bought the senator's wife a new Mercedes convertible in exchange for her husband's assistance in thwarting a state criminal probe. This was part of a plot conceived during meetings and over glasses of Cognac at upscale eateries in New Jersey.

Menendez allegedly bragged to Uribe during one of these dinners, claiming, "I saved your a**, not once but twice," in a manner reminiscent of scenes from a retro mob movie.

Lawyers for Sen Menendez, who are scheduled to give their closing statement on Tuesday, have asserted that all the gold bars belonged to his wife Nadine, who they claim “sidelined” her husband in the alleged bribery scheme.

However, the prosecutor argued that trial evidence indicates that the senator was the one orchestrating the scheme, and his wife acted as his “go-between” connecting him with the individuals paying the bribes.

The prosecutor told jurors, “You don’t get to be the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee by being clueless."

Menendez, dressed in a dark blue suit and light blue tie, sat at the defense table as the prosecutor spoke for two-and-a-half hours on Monday, tapping the side of his chair with his right hand.

Upon leaving the court and before stepping into a waiting car, the senator told reporters, "The government is intoxicated by their own rhetoric."

During the trial, the senator's older sister testified, stating that it was "normal" for her brother and all people of Cuban heritage to hoard piles of cash.

The 80-year-old Caridad Gonzalez mentioned that “It's a Cuban thing” and explained that their father, who ran a prosperous bowtie business in Cuba that was destroyed by local authorities, passed down a distrust of banks to her “baby brother.”

Nadine Menendez's sister, Katia Tabourian, testified that it was customary for members of her family, hailing from Lebanon, Armenia, and Cyprus, to exchange gold bars and other jewelry as gifts.

The senator did not take the stand. Last week, outside the court, he stated that prosecutors "had failed to prove every aspect of their case."

Menendez, despite the pending case, has refused to resign from office. He is running as an independent after losing the Democratic Primary to Rep Andy Kim (D-NJ) in June by a large margin.

This is Sen Menendez's second time facing federal corruption charges, following a previous case in New Jersey that ended with a hung jury in 2017.

Bob Menendez shredded after prosecutor claims he ‘put his power up for sale’

One X user remarked, "FIRE ALL THE CROOKED ONES NOW!"

Another user said, "LOVE TO SEE IT!!!"

Another user wrote, "Typical career Dem. Corruption party."

One X user claimed, "How do Democrats think Biden got so wealthy being a Senator?"

"He is not a cheap Senator, a full kilo is required," another user quipped. 

Someone else tweeted, "And still nothing will happen or be done..."

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