Jury deliberations in Sen. Menendez bribery trial begin Friday

NEW YORK (NewsNation) — Jury deliberations are set to begin Friday in the bribery trial against New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez in Manhattan after a nine-week trial.

Deliberations were expected to begin Thursday, but the prosecution delivered a four-hour rebuttal following closing arguments, blowing past the two hours they told the judge it would take. The rebuttal lasted so long that jurors appeared to be getting restless, and one juror seemed to be nodding off.

During the rebuttal, the prosecution repeated much of its five-hour-long closing argument, revisiting the cash and gold found in Menendez’s home and saying there doesn’t need to be a video of the senator accepting the alleged bribes to be able to make the connection. Prosecutors also revisited the testimony of Jose Uribe, one of the three businessmen who were accused of bribing the senator.

The judge promised the jury it would get the case before lunch Friday.

Why is Sen. Bob Menendez on trial?

Menendez and his wife, Nadine, are accused of accepting bribes such as cash and gold bars from wealthy New Jersey businessmen and performing favors in return. These favors allegedly include meddling in criminal investigations and taking actions that benefit the governments of Egypt and Qatar. 

The weekslong trial is taking place in a Manhattan federal court. This trial marks the second time Menendez has faced federal corruption charges in a decade.

During closing arguments this week, Menendez’s defense attorney spent a total of five hours over two days telling the jury the prosecution’s case is thin and has failed to connect evidence of bribery or corruption to the senator directly.

Menendez pleaded not guilty to 16 felony charges that he accepted bribes from three New Jersey businessmen including gold and hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash from 2018 to 2022. 

He’s on trial with two of the businessmen, Wael Hana and Fred Daibes, who have also pleaded not guilty. Uribe, who testified against Menendez, pleaded guilty.

A conviction for Menendez could result in prison time.

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