New York jury ready to start deliberations at Sen. Bob Menendez’s bribery trial

NEW YORK (AP) — A New York jury was expected to begin deliberations around midday Friday in the bribery trial of Sen. Bob Menendez in New York City after a judge finishes reading them instructions on the law.

The trial has played out for the past two months in Manhattan federal court, where prosecutors say Menendez and his wife catered to the needs of three New Jersey businessmen from 2018 to 2023 in return for gold, cash and a Mercedes-Benz convertible. Menendez, 70, is also charged with acting as a foreign agent of the Egyptian government.

Menendez’s lawyers have argued that the senator did nothing wrong in his dealings with the businessmen and that nearly $150,000 in gold bars and over $480,000 in cash found at the couple’s Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, home in a 2022 FBI raid were not bribe proceeds.

Two of the businessmen, Fred Daibes and Wael Hana, are on trial with Menendez. His wife’s trial has been postponed while she recovers from breast cancer surgery. All of the defendants have pleaded not guilty. Menendez did not testify.

Judge Sidney H. Stein began late Thursday to read legal instructions to the jury so jurors have a roadmap to follow during their deliberations. He resumed reading them the instructions shortly before 10 a.m. Friday. He had told them that they were likely to start deliberating around midday.

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