Menendez concludes his bribery defense without giving testimony

NEW YORK — Sen. Bob Menendez decided not to take the stand in his own defense against federal corruption charges, though he talked about it “at length” with his attorneys.

Menendez (D-N.J.) told U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein on Wednesday afternoon he would not testify, moments before his team of lawyers rested their defense case.

Prosecutors, who indicted him last fall, “failed” to prove their case, Menendez told reporters as he left a Manhattan federal courthouse.

The senator, who is accused of accepting bribes to disrupt state and federal criminal cases and to help the Egyptian government obtain American military aid, called five witnesses this week after the government spent over two months having people testify.

Menendez, standing trial for the second time, said it “makes no sense to me whatsoever” to give prosecutors another chance to summarize their case against him with him on the stand.

After a corruption case mistrial in 2017, he gave a victory speech outside a New Jersey federal courthouse that explained his decision not to take the stand then, using at least one similar reason. He said his testimony would have given prosecutors a chance to “redo their entire meritless case in chief all over again.”

Earlier this week, during legal arguments in front of the judge without jurors present, Menendez attorney Adam Fee seemed to preview his team’s closing arguments.

“There's no direct proof of the schemes alleged,” Fee said. “It's only about the strength of inferences.”

Prosecutors spent the past two months sketching out the basis for the inferences they hope jurors draw to convict Menendez as a “senator on the take.”

They found over a half million dollars in cash during a home search and have tied Menendez and his wife to about a quarter million dollars in gold bars, much of which was also found in the home. Menendez’s wife, Nadine, has a health issue and is expected to stand trial separately.

Prosecutors also have gobs of text messages and emails, closely-timed phone calls and evidence of meetings the senator had, including at least one meeting with an Egyptian diplomat that was staked out by the FBI and another meeting described as “gross” by one participate as soon as it ended.

But some evidence prosecutors called “critical” was kept from jurors because of a form of immunity granted to members of Congress. On top of that, Menendez’s defense team hopes jurors write off testimony from one of the government’s star witnesses, a man who pleaded guilty to bribing Menendez but has his own criminal record. They are also likely to point to other witnesses who interacted with Menendez who said they didn’t believe he pressured them during interactions prosecutors say were part of the bribery schemes.

And, hanging over the entire case, is what jurors make of the senator’s wife, Nadine.

Prosecutors say she acted as go-between, Menendez’s defense team say the couple lived largely separate lives and have evidence she was going behind his back.

Closing arguments are expected to begin on Monday.