Jury deliberations are set to resume on Monday in the bribery trial of Sen. Bob Menendez in New York City. The jury, which began deliberations on Friday, is scheduled to reconvene in Manhattan federal court. The corruption trial of the New Jersey Democrat is entering its 10th week.
Sen. Menendez, 70, has denied charges of engaging in a bribery scheme from 2018 to 2023 to benefit three New Jersey businessmen, including by allegedly serving as a foreign agent for the government of Egypt. Both Menendez and the two businessmen who allegedly paid him bribes of gold and cash have pleaded not guilty.
As he left court on Friday, Sen. Menendez expressed his faith in God and in the jury. Last week, lawyers spent over 15 hours delivering closing arguments, urging the jury to carefully review hundreds of exhibits and hours of testimony.
Prosecutors emphasized in their closing arguments the nearly $150,000 of gold bars and over $480,000 in cash seized from Menendez's home during a 2022 FBI raid, alleging that these valuables were bribe proceeds. They also argued that Menendez appeared to serve as an agent of Egypt in multiple ways.
Menendez's defense team maintained that the senator never accepted bribes and that his actions to benefit the businessmen were within the scope of his duties as a public official. They argued that his efforts to expedite $99 million in military shipments of helicopter ammunition to Egypt and his communications with Egyptian officials were part of his responsibilities as a senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Menendez, who announced his intention to run for reelection this year as an independent candidate, was forced to relinquish his position as committee chairman after the charges were announced last fall.
