Closing arguments in the corruption trial of Senator Robert Menendez are expected to continue on Tuesday in federal court in Manhattan, where prosecutors have laid out a complex case accusing the senator of selling out his public office in pursuit of lucrative bribes.
Mr. Menendez, New Jersey’s senior senator and the former chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is accused of doing favors for foreign governments and businessmen in New Jersey in exchange for gifts.
On Monday, a federal prosecutor, Paul Monteleoni, described gold bars and “envelope after envelope” of cash seized from the senator’s home as evidence of a “clear pattern of corruption.”
And he sought to undermine arguments made during the trial by Mr. Menendez’s lawyers that the senator was unaware of gifts given to his wife, Nadine Menendez, who is also accused in the alleged bribery scheme. “You don’t get to be the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee by being clueless,” he said.
Mr. Menendez, leaving the courthouse Monday evening, mocked Mr. Monteleoni’s summation. “The government is intoxicated with their own rhetoric,” he told reporters before stepping into a waiting black Lincoln sedan.
Here’s what to know about the trial:
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Closings continue Tuesday: Before court adjourned on Monday, Mr. Monteleoni told the jury that text messages exchanged between Mr. Menendez and his wife — which he said showed her asking for his instructions — were evidence of a conspiracy, even though the senator “wanted his fingerprints off of it.” The prosecution is expected to wrap up its summation on Tuesday, with lawyers for the defendants going next. Prosecutors will also be able to offer a rebuttal before the case goes to the jury.
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The allegations: Prosecutors say Mr. Menendez took bribes in return for ghostwriting a letter from Egypt lobbying senators to release military aid; trying to quash criminal cases for Mr. Daibes and another businessman, Jose Uribe; and introducing Mr. Daibes to a member of the Qatari royal family who could invest in a real estate development. Prosecutors also charge that Mr. Menendez protected a monopoly Mr. Hana had on halal certifications for food imported to Egypt after his soon-to-be-wife was given a low-show job at Mr. Hana’s company.
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Key testimony: Mr. Uribe, who pleaded guilty to bribing the senator and agreed to cooperate with the authorities, was a key government witness. In June, minutes after taking the witness stand in Manhattan federal court, Mr. Uribe testified that he had bribed Mr. Menendez by giving the future Ms. Menendez a Mercedes-Benz.
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Menendez’s defense: The senator’s lawyers rested their case last week without calling Mr. Menendez to testify in his own defense. They have argued that the government has attempted to criminalize routine legislative activity.
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Ms. Menendez’s trial was postponed after she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
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A historic prosecution: Mr. Menendez is the first senator ever indicted under the foreign-agent statute, and the first in the Senate’s 235-year history to be indicted in separate bribery cases. (His first prosecution ended in a mistrial in 2017.) Prosecutors have circled him for decades.
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Political fallout: The case has already dealt a near-lethal blow to Mr. Menendez’s four-decade political career. He did not run in the Democratic primary for his Senate seat last month. And while he has filed paperwork to run as an independent in November, polls show there is little chance he could win.
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