一名检察官周三在新泽西民主党人的集会开始时声称，参议员罗伯特·梅嫩德斯“出售自己的权力”并“背叛了他应该为之服务的人民”联邦贿赂审判在纽约。
与此同时，辩护律师介绍梅嫩德斯“不是作为埃及政府的代理人”，而是作为“没有收受贿赂的美国爱国者”
梅嫩德斯对包括贿赂、欺诈、充当外国代理人和妨碍公务在内的16项联邦指控拒不认罪。
纽约联邦检察官指控他接受了数十万美元的贿赂，以现金、金条、抵押贷款和一辆豪华敞篷车的形式换取参议员的政治影响力。与埃及和卡塔尔政府一起被指控的三名新泽西商人是所谓的收受者。
“他很强大。他也是腐败的，”检察官劳拉·波梅兰茨在她的开场白中谈到这位参议员时说。“在美利坚合众国，人们期望领导人把国家放在第一位，把他们所服务的人民的利益放在自己的利益之上。这个案子是关于一个把贪婪放在第一位的公职人员。”
庞梅兰兹指着梅嫩德斯，他坐在被告席上，头转向陪审员。
“这是来自新泽西州的美国参议员罗伯特·梅嫩德斯，他受委托做出重大决定，包括影响国家安全的决定，”庞梅兰茨说。“罗伯特·梅嫩德斯是一名受贿的美国参议员，他受贪婪的驱使，关注他能在自己和妻子的口袋里放多少钱。这就是你今天在这里的原因。这就是这场审判的意义所在。”
Pomerantz告诉陪审团，他的代价是金条、装满现金的信封、给妻子的一份不露面工作的支票和一辆梅赛德斯-奔驰敞篷车。
“这不是通常的政治。这是为了利益的政治，”Pomerantz说。“美国联邦调查局在梅嫩德斯的家里、保险柜里、上衣口袋里、鞋子里以及房子各处发现了金条和超过40万美元的现金。“
Pomerantz概述了所谓的腐败计划，她说这些计划“填满了梅嫩德斯的口袋”，从承诺向埃及政府提供军事援助开始。
“梅嫩德斯承诺用他的力量帮助埃及。而这笔交易，即梅嫩德斯承诺帮助埃及的贿赂，持续了数年。
根据起诉书，这一安排是由新泽西商人瓦伊尔·哈娜(Wael Hana)促成的，她是梅嫩德斯妻子纳丁的朋友。检方称，纳丁在参议员的帮助下保持了清真肉类的垄断地位。
“罗伯特·梅嫩德斯愿意腐败地利用他的权力来帮助哈娜和埃及政府以换取贿赂。法律所谓的交换条件，”Pomerantz说。“为了梅嫩德斯对埃及的军事援助承诺，韩亚支付了虚假的薪水和黄金。“
梅嫩德斯还被指控接受一辆价值6万美元的梅赛德斯-奔驰敞篷车，以换取其帮助破坏新泽西州总检察长办公室的一起案件。
“为什么梅嫩德斯同意破坏刑事调查?因为纳丁需要一辆车。“梅嫩德斯会试图让调查不了了之。“
2019年春天，另一名新泽西州商人何塞·乌里韦(Jose Uribe)交给纳丁1.5万美元现金，检察官称她用这笔钱支付了汽车的首付款。她给梅嫩德斯发短信说:“祝贺你。我们是2019年梅赛德斯的骄傲车主，”据Pomerantz说。乌里韦是谁认罪了并同意合作，继续每月付款。
据称，在梅嫩德斯同意利用自己的权力干预一桩州刑事案件后不久，波梅兰茨表示，这位参议员向第三位商人弗雷德·戴贝斯承诺，他将干涉戴贝斯的联邦起诉，并通过支持参议院一项赞扬卡塔尔的决议来帮助卡塔尔政府。
“梅嫩德斯得到了什么作为交换?现金和金条，”Pomerantz说。
她告诉陪审团，在梅嫩德斯家中发现的现金信封上发现了戴贝斯的指纹，金条上的序列号追踪到戴贝斯和哈娜。
检察官说，当时这些金条每根价值5万美元。
“梅嫩德斯知道它们值多少钱吗?你打赌，”Pomerantz说。“梅嫩德斯在谷歌上搜索了一公斤黄金的价格。“
在开庭陈述中，辩护律师阿维·威茨曼坚称，在参议员新泽西的家中发现的“黄金和现金有无辜的解释”——暗示这是一种归咎于梅嫩德斯妻子的策略，她也在此案中受到指控。
“金条是在一个上锁的壁橱里发现的。这是纳丁的衣橱，”威茨曼说。“他不知道壁橱里有金条。“
威茨曼说，这对夫妇过着“分居”的生活，参议员的妻子有财务问题，但她没有告诉丈夫。
“证据将表明纳丁向鲍勃隐瞒了她的财务挑战，”他说。
梅嫩德斯的妻子对自己的指控不认罪，由于身体状况，她将在7月份单独受审。
辩方称“政府多年来一直在调查此案”，并提出“没有一条”证据表明这位参议员收受贿赂。
“他没有违反法律，期间，美国检察官办公室的指控是错误的，绝对错误的，”威茨曼说。“他没有索贿。他没有接受任何贿赂。”
梅嫩德斯表示，起诉书中的所有行为都在他的职位范围内。
“鲍勃在做他的工作，他做得很好，”威茨曼说。
威茨曼接着将梅嫩德斯比作儿童读物《沃尔多在哪里》中那个戴眼镜的角色，他穿着蓝色裤子、红白条纹衬衫和帽子，总是在人群中迷路。
威茨曼在屏幕上展示了书中标志性的拥挤景观，并配以卡通化的文字“鲍勃在哪里?”并邀请陪审团在审判过程中思考这个问题。
“每次政府向你展示纳丁的一些情况时，你只要问自己一句:‘鲍勃在哪里?’”魏茨曼说。
威茨曼坚称两人过着不同的生活。
“他不知道纳丁做过的交易，”威茨曼谈到梅嫩德斯时说。“你不能认为鲍勃知道他们。“
威茨曼向陪审团展示了一张梅嫩德斯衣橱的照片，里面整齐地挂着礼服衬衫，并表示没有发现现金。他说，大部分现金是在纳丁家的地下室发现的，在30多年里被提取出来。
“我知道这听起来很奇怪，”魏茨曼说。“从年轻的时候起，这位参议员就知道了拥有现金的价值，”这位律师说，这是他的父母逃离古巴抚养他的产物。“这些不是作为贿赂给出的账单。“
周三早些时候选出并宣誓就职的陪审团成员包括一名退休经济学家、一名喜欢“和我的狗一起玩”的职业治疗师、一名来自密歇根州的律师和一名“因性骚扰而被关押的侄子”。所有人都保证公平。
“我会要求，在你感到舒适的程度上，尽量减少你的新闻摄入量，”法官西德尼·斯坦曾告诉未来的陪审员。
在开庭陈述之前，法官排除了一名精神病医生的证词。辩方希望这份证词能支持梅嫩德斯的说法，即他在家中藏匿现金是因为“害怕短缺”古巴移民的儿子梅嫩德斯说，把现金放在身边是他成长经历的一部分，但斯坦说精神病医生的证词“根本站不住脚”
梅嫩德斯是第一位被指控公职人员共谋充当外国代理人的现任国会议员。
自去年首次被起诉以来，这位参议员一直坚称自己无罪。
三月，他宣布的他不会以民主党人的身份寻求连任，但他保留了以独立身份参加11月大选的可能性。
Sen. Bob Menendez 'put his power up for sale,' prosecutor claims in bribery trial
Sen. Robert Menendez "put his power up for sale" and "betrayed the people he was supposed to serve," a prosecutor claimed Wednesday at the start of the New Jersey Democrat'sfederal bribery trialin New York.
The defense meanwhile introduced Menendez "not as an agent of the Egyptian government" but as "an American patriot" who "took no bribes."
Menendez has pleaded not guilty to 16 federal charges including bribery, fraud, acting as a foreign agent and obstruction.
Federal prosecutors in New York have alleged that he accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in the form of cash, gold bars, mortgage payments and a luxury convertible in exchange for the senator's political clout. Three New Jersey businessmen who were also charged, along with the governments of Egypt and Qatar, were the alleged recipients.
"He was powerful. He was also corrupt," prosecutor Lara Pomerantz said of the senator during her opening statement. "In the United States of America, leaders are expected to put their country first, to put the interests of the people they serve above their own. This case is about a public official who put greed first."
Pomerantz pointed at Menendez, who was seated at the defense table with his head turned toward the jurors.
"This is Robert Menendez, a United States senator from New Jersey, and he was entrusted to make big decisions, including decisions that affect this country's national security," Pomerantz said. "Robert Menendez was a United States senator on the take, motivated by greed, focused on how much money he could put in his own pocket and in his wife's pocket. That is why you're here today. That is what this trial is all about."
His price, Pomerantz told the jury, was gold bars, envelopes stuffed with cash, checks to his wife for a no-show job and a Mercedes-Benz convertible.
"This was not politics as usual. This was politics for profit," Pomerantz said. "The FBI found gold bars and over $400,000 in cash in Menendez's home, in a safe, in jacket pockets, in shoes, all over the house."
Pomerantz outlined the alleged corruption schemes that she said "filled Menendez's pockets," starting with a promise to assist the government of Egypt with military aid.
"Menendez promised to use his power to help Egypt. And that deal, bribes for Menendez's promise to help Egypt, lasted for years," Pomerantz said.
According to the indictment, the arrangement was brokered by New Jersey businessman Wael Hana, a friend of Menendez's wife, Nadine, who prosecutors said received the senator's help preserving a halal meat monopoly.
"Robert Menendez was willing to corruptly use his power to help Hana and the government of Egypt in exchange for bribes. What the law calls quid pro quo," Pomerantz said. "Sham paychecks and gold from Hana for Menendez's promise of military aid for Egypt."
Menendez is also charged with receiving a $60,000 Mercedes-Benz convertible in exchange for help disrupting a case by the New Jersey Attorney General's Office.
"Why did Menendez agree to disrupt a criminal investigation? Because Nadine needed a car," Pomerantz said. "Menendez would try to make the investigation go away."
In the spring of 2019, another New Jersey businessman, Jose Uribe, handed Nadine $15,000 in cash that prosecutors said she used as a down payment for the car. She texted Menendez, "Congratulations. We are the proud owners of a 2019 Mercedes," according to Pomerantz. Uribe, who haspleaded guiltyand agreed to cooperate, kept making the monthly payments, prosecutors said.
Not long after Menendez allegedly agreed to use his power to intervene in a state criminal case, Pomerantz said the senator promised a third businessman, Fred Daibes, that he would interfere with Daibes' federal prosecution and help the government of Qatar by supporting a Senate resolution praising the country.
"What did Menendez get in exchange? Cash and gold bars," Pomerantz said.
She told the jury that Daibes' fingerprints were found on the envelopes of cash found at Menendez's home and serial numbers on the gold bars traced them to Daibes and Hana.
At the time, the gold bars were worth $50,000 apiece, prosecutors said.
"Did Menendez know how much they were worth? You bet," Pomerantz said. "Menendez Googled the price of a kilogram of gold."
In his opening statement, defense attorney Avi Weitzman insisted "there are innocent explanations for the gold and the cash" found in the senator's New Jersey home -- hinting at a strategy to blame Menendez's wife, who was also charged in the case.
"The gold bars were found in a closet that is a locked closet. It is Nadine's closet," Weitzman said. "He did not know of the gold bars that existed in that closet."
Weitzman said the couple led "separate lives" and the senator's wife had financial concerns that she kept from her husband.
"The evidence will show that Nadine was hiding her financial challenges from Bob," he said.
Menendez's wife has pleaded not guilty to her charges and will be tried separately in July due to a medical condition.
The defense said "the government has been investigating this case for years" and came up with "not one piece" of evidence that shows the senator took a bribe.
"He did not violate the law, period, and the allegations by the United States Attorney's Office are wrong, dead wrong," Weitzman said. "He did not ask for bribes. He did not get any bribes."
Menendez has said all of the actions in the indictment fell within the scope of his position.
"Bob was doing his job and he was doing it right," Weitzman said.
Weitzman went on to compare Menendez to the bespectacled character in the "Where's Waldo" children's books with the blue pants, red and white striped shirt and cap always lost in a crowd.
Weitzman displayed on a screen the signature crowded landscape from the books with cartoonish words "Where's Bob?" and invited the jury to think of it during the trial.
"Every time the government shows you something about Nadine, just ask yourself, 'Where's Bob?'" Weitzman said.
Weitzman insisted the two led separate lives.
"He didn't know about the dealings Nadine had," Weitzman said of Menendez. "You can't just assume that Bob knows about them."
Weitzman showed the jury a photo of Menendez's closet, dress shirts neatly hanging, and said no cash was found there. He said much of the cash was found in the basement of Nadine's home and was withdrawn over 30 years.
"I know that sounds odd," Weitzman said. "From a young age, the senator learned the value of having cash," which the lawyer said was the product of his upbringing by parents who fled Cuba. "These were not bills that were given as bribes."
The seated jury, which was selected and sworn in earlier Wednesday, includes a retired economist, an occupational therapist who likes "hanging out with my dog," an attorney originally from Michigan and someone who "had a nephew locked up for molestation." All pledged to be fair.
"I'm going to ask, to the extent you feel comfortable, to minimize your news intake," Judge Sidney Stein told prospective jurors at one point.
Before opening statements, the judge precluded testimony from a psychiatrist the defense hoped would bolster Menendez's claim that he stashed cash in his home as a result of a "fear of scarcity." Menendez, the son of Cuban immigrants, has said it was part of his upbringing to keep cash lying around, but Stein said the psychiatrist's testimony "just doesn't stand up."
Menendez is the first sitting member of Congress to be charged with conspiracy by a public official to act as a foreign agent.
The senator has maintained his innocence since his initial indictment last year.
In March, heannouncedthat will not seek another term as a Democrat but he left open the possibility of running in November as an independent.
