Sen. Bob Menendez Chooses Not to Testify in Bribery Trial, Closing Arguments Expected

New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez has decided not to testify in his ongoing bribery trial in New York, stating that the prosecution failed to prove every aspect of the case against him. This decision paves the way for closing arguments, which are expected to take place as early as Monday. Menendez, a Democrat, is facing charges of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in gold and cash between 2018 and 2022 in exchange for using his influence in the Senate to benefit three New Jersey businessmen.

After calling several witnesses over two days to counter the prosecution’s seven weeks of testimony and numerous exhibits, Menendez’s defense team rested their case. The senator, aged 70, maintains his innocence and believes that the government has failed to prove its allegations. When asked by Judge Sidney H. Stein if the decision not to testify was his own, Menendez confirmed that it was.

As he left the courthouse, Menendez expressed confidence in his lawyers’ ability to deliver a powerful and convincing closing argument. He also wished the reporters who followed him to his car a “Happy Fourth of July.” Two of the businessmen accused of bribing Menendez, Fred Daibes and Wael Hana, are on trial alongside him. The third businessman, Jose Uribe, pleaded guilty to charges and testified against the trio during the trial. Both Daibes and Hana have pleaded not guilty and were given the opportunity to present a defense, although the judge informed the jury that the burden of proof lies with the prosecution and a defense was not required.

Prosecutors took seven weeks to present their case, resting last Friday. They presented evidence suggesting that Menendez’s wife, Nadine Menendez, acted as a go-between for the senator and the businessmen. Nadine, aged 57, who began dating Menendez in 2018, has pleaded not guilty to criminal charges, but her trial has been postponed due to her recovery from breast cancer surgery. Menendez’s defense team argued that his wife concealed her financial troubles from him, including her inability to afford mortgage payments and her dealings with the businessmen. They also claimed that she inherited gold discovered during an FBI raid on their home in 2022.

Among the witnesses called by Menendez’s lawyers was his sister, Caridad Gonzalez, aged 80, who testified that storing large amounts of cash at home was a common practice in their Cuban family. Menendez, who was born after his parents fled Cuba in 1951, has pleaded not guilty to charges of bribery, fraud, extortion, obstruction of justice, and acting as a foreign agent of Egypt. Following the announcement of the charges in September, he was forced to step down from his position as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Despite calls for his resignation, Menendez filed papers a month ago to run for reelection as an independent.

Prosecutors allege that Daibes provided Menendez and his wife with gold bars and cash in exchange for the senator’s assistance in securing a multimillion-dollar deal with a Qatari investment fund, leading Menendez to act favorably towards the Qatari government. They also claim that Menendez performed actions benefiting Egyptian officials in exchange for bribes from Hana, who secured a lucrative deal with the Egyptian government to certify imported meat as meeting Islamic dietary requirements.