"Menendez's acquittal would be a victory for the United States, says his lawyer"

NEW YORK — A legal victory for Sen. Bob Menendez is a victory for the country, the senator’s attorney said at the end of his closing arguments on Wednesday.

“When you acquit Senator Menendez, the United States wins,” Menendez attorney Adam Fee told jurors at the end of a five-hour closing argument that began Tuesday afternoon.

Federal prosecutors accuse Menendez of accepting bribes to disrupt state and federal criminal cases and acting as an agent of Egypt. While his lawyer argues an acquittal would equate to success for America, a guilty verdict brought by “overzealous or mistaken prosecutors” would certainly mean the worst for 70-year-old Menendez. He faces decades in prison because of the 18-count indictment against him and a pair of co-defendants.

The schemes are alleged to have begun shortly after Menendez began dating his now-wife Nadine in early 2018. Fee said it doesn’t make much sense that the New Jersey Democrat would begin “massive, intricate criminal conspiracies” after “like, two dates.” One key element of Menendez’s defense is blaming his wife, claiming he was left in the dark. She was also charged but will stand trial separately following a cancer diagnosis just before the trial started mid-May.

During the trial, the government relied heavily on documents, including text messages, phone records and emails. Fee said these failed to show Menendez was in on schemes or received bribes in exchange for taking specific actions.

But prosecutors have also pointed to hundreds of thousands of dollars and gold bars found by the FBI in Menendez’s house in North Jersey, and “weird” and “gross” interactions others had with the senator they say was proof Menendez was selling his office.

Jurors are expected to begin deliberations later this week.

They also heard closing arguments on Wednesday afternoon from an attorney for Wael “Will” Hana, an Egyptian businessperson accused of bribing the senator with gold and a fake job and other things for his wife; and from an attorney for Fred Daibes, a New Jersey real estate developer also accused of bribing the senator, his longtime friend, with cash and gold bars.

Attorneys for the businesspeople did not dispute that gold or cash the FBI found in the Menendez home came from their clients but they said the government did not prove these were bribes and, in fact, could not show when or why the gold or cash got there.

“You don’t bribe a close friend,” Daibes attorney Cesar de Castro told jurors.

A third New Jersey businessperson, Jose Uribe, has pleaded guilty to bribing Menendez by buying a Mercedes Benz for his wife Nadine in a scheme alleged to have involved Hana. Uribe is cooperating with federal prosecutors. Fee and Hana attorney Larry Lustberg used their closing statements to attack Uribe’s credibility and distance their clients from him.