Ex-N.J. attorney general testifies Sen. Bob Menendez confronted him twice over a pending criminal case

NEW YORK — A former New Jersey attorney general testified Thursday at Sen. Bob Menendez’s bribery trial that the Democrat twice tried to discuss a pending criminal case with him, requests he considered “pretty unprecedented.”

Gurbir Grewal was called as a witness by prosecutors to support their claim that Menendez tried to interfere in a criminal case at the request of one of three New Jersey businessmen who were allegedly paying him bribes including gold bars, hundreds of thousands of dollars and a luxury car.

Menendez, 70, is on trial in Manhattan federal court with two of the businessmen. The three have pleaded not guilty. The third businessman has pleaded guilty and is expected to testify.

Grewal, now head of enforcement for the Securities and Exchange Commission, recalled Menendez first reaching out to him in early 2019, shortly after he’d taken the job as New Jersey’s top law enforcement officer.

He testified that a cousin who was close friends with Menendez asked if she could pass along Grewal’s personal cellphone number to Menendez and he agreed.

Menendez called late one afternoon, interrupting a meeting, but Grewal said he stepped outside the office to take the call.

After some small talk, Menendez expressed a concern that some state investigators were treating Hispanics in the trucking industry different than workers who were not Hispanic, Grewal said.

Grewal said he asked Menendez if the concern arose from a criminal matter and when he was told that it did, he followed his policy and directed Menendez to have a defense lawyer contact the prosecutors or the judge about any relevant matter.

He said the 5- to 6-minute phone call ended shortly thereafter without the senator saying any more about it.

Grewal said he