NEW YORK — New Jersey’s acting U.S. attorney and a former state attorney general are among the witnesses expected in the senator’s corruption trial. Bob Menendeza federal prosecutor said Wednesday.
The group of expected witnesses will be part of the evidence that federal prosecutors promised in court would link New Jersey’s senior senator to acts of corruption to benefit New Jersey businesspeople and foreign governments. Other expected witnesses are a former Menendez ally who pleaded guilty to participating in the bribery scheme and a high-level U.S. Department of Agriculture official who was also allegedly pressured by Menendez.
It is Menéndez’s second corruption trial in a decade, although the charges he faces this time are much more serious and have practically ended his political career.
In the trial’s opening statement Wednesday, a federal prosecutor described Menéndez as the center of the complex bribery allegations, saying he was a “senator in action.” The co-defendants in the case are developer Fred Daibes and Wael Hana, a businessman with ties to the Egyptian government.
José Uribe, a New Jersey businessman who was also initially charged along with Menéndez but has since pleaded guilty, is also expected to testify as he seeks a reduced sentence. Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Lara Pomerantz said Uribe would provide an “inside look” at the alleged scheme.
“This case is about a public official who put greed first, who put his power up for sale,” said Pomerantz, who gave opening statements to federal prosecutors at trial.
Two of the three expected witnesses — although not mentioned by name — would be former New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal and the state’s current U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger. Prosecutors said that in exchange for bribes, Menéndez tried to get the two to interfere in the investigations, although they did not succumb to pressure from the senator, Pomerantz said.
Pomerantz promised the jury, which was seated earlier in the day, evidence and correspondence that would show “hour by hour” and even “minute by minute” evidence of corrupt schemes unfolding. She said Daibes texted Menendez photos of gold bars, which were later used in bribes. And she said Nadine Menendez, the senator’s wife who is expected to face a separate trial, was the conduit between the senator and the businessmen offering bribes.
Nadine Menendez, she said, was the “middleman for delivering messages to and from people paying bribes,” but she allegedly kept Menendez informed about the schemes. Federal prosecutors said that after Nadine Menendez received a new luxury vehicle in exchange for the senator’s interference in a state investigation, she sent him a text message “we are the proud owners of a 2019 Mercedes.”
Nadine Menendez ran a “bribe collection company” to which New Jersey businesspeople gave money in exchange for the senator’s influence, Pomerantz said.
