Federal jury returns for third day of deliberations at bribery trial of Sen. Bob Menendez

NEW YORK (AP) — A jury in New York City is expected to resume deliberations Tuesday in the bribery trial of Sen. Bob Menendez, the New Jersey Democrat accused of accepting gold and cash to use his political clout to help three businessmen and the Egyptian government.

Menendez, 70, insists he is innocent. He faces 16 counts in a criminal indictment that accuses him of multiple corrupt acts, including meddling in criminal investigations to protect his associates and helping one deal with U.S. agriculture regulators. He is also accused of serving as a foreign agent for Egypt.

The senator is on trial with two New Jersey businessmen. All three defendants have pleaded not guilty. A third pleaded guilty before trial and testified against Menendez and the other businessmen.

Menendez’s wife, Nadine, also is charged in the case, although her trial has been postponed while she recovers from breast cancer surgery.

In a 2022 raid on the Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, home where Menendez lived with his wife, FBI agents confiscated gold bars worth nearly $150,000 and over $480,000 in cash, some of it stuffed into boots and jackets emblazoned with the senator’s name.

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Menendez expressed some hope as he left the courthouse on Monday that the jury was carefully reviewing the evidence in its deliberations. In two separate notes, the jury had posed questions about the charges, including asking in one instance if unanimity was required to acquit “on a single count.”

“It’s obvious that the government’s case is not as simple as they made it to be,” Menendez said before repeating himself. “It’s not as simple as they made it to be. The jury’s finding that out.”

During closing arguments last week, lawyers spent over 15 hours urging jurors to carefully study the evidence.

Prosecutors cited numerous instances when they said Menendez helped the businessmen. And they argued that his efforts to speed $99 million in helicopter ammunition to Egypt, along with cozy communications with top Egyptian officials, showed he was serving Egypt’s interests as an agent.

Lawyers for Menendez insisted the senator never accepted bribes and that actions he took to benefit the businessmen were the kinds of tasks expected of a public official. His lawyers added he was simply carrying out foreign responsibilities expected in his role as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which he was forced to relinquish after charges were brought.

Menendez announced several weeks ago that he plans to run for reelection this year as an independent.