At the conclusion of Wednesday’s closing remarks, Sen. Bob Menendez’s attorney stated that the nation would benefit from a legal triumph for Menendez.
Adam Fee, who is representing Senator Menendez, told the jury, “When you acquit Senator Menendez, the United States wins.” The closing argument for the case began on Tuesday afternoon and lasted over five hours.
The federal government has charged Menendez with serving as an agent of Egypt and taking bribes to obstruct federal and state criminal proceedings. The worst would happen to 70-year-old Menendez if he were found guilty by “overzealous or mistaken prosecutors,” even though his lawyer claims an acquittal would mean success for America. The 18 counts against him carry the potential penalty of decades behind bars.
Rumor has it that Menendez started seeing his now-wife Nadine in early 2018, and that’s when the plots started. According to Fee, the New Jersey Democrat’s decision to launch “massive, intricate criminal conspiracies” following “like, two dates” is highly implausible. Blaming his wife and saying she kept him in the dark is a major part of Menendez’s defense. In addition to the others, she was diagnosed with cancer shortly before the trial began in mid-May, but she will face trial independently.
Documents such as text messages, phone records, and emails were extensively used by the government during the trial. According to Fee, these do not prove that Menendez was involved in any schemes or that he accepted bribes to do any particular deed.
However, the North Jersey home of Senator Robert Menendez was raided by the FBI for hundreds of thousands of dollars and gold bars. Prosecutors also cited “weird” and “gross” encounters that others had with Menendez, which they claimed proved he was selling his office.
Deliberations by the jury are anticipated to commence later this week. Egyptian businessman Wael “Will” Hana is on trial for bribing the senator; on Wednesday afternoon, his counsel is slated to deliver closing arguments. On Thursday morning, the attorney representing Fred Daibes will provide closing arguments. Daibes is a real estate developer from New Jersey who is also facing charges of bribing his long-time buddy, the senator, with cash and gold bars.
Jose Uribe, a third businessman from New Jersey, is collaborating with federal authorities after pleading guilty to bribing Menendez. Fee devoted a significant portion of Wednesday’s closing address to casting doubt on Uribe’s reliability while simultaneously use Uribe’s evidence to bolster Menendez’s defense—namely, that he was unaware of certain matters on which Nadine was knowledgeable—.
Uribe “knew how to sell a story,” according to Fee, who characterized him as a “witness trash pile.”
What Uribe needs to do to take care of himself is something that Fee claimed he would do.