Sen. Bob Menendez’s lawyer tells jury that prosecutors’ bribery case ‘dies here today’

NEW YORK (AP) — Sen. Bob Menendez’s lawyer tried to convince a New York jury Wednesday that there’s nothing to the federal government’s bribery case against the Democrat.

“This case, it dies here today,” attorney Adam Fee told the Manhattan federal court jury as it heard closing arguments for a third day.

He said the government had failed to prove “that Bob’s actions were anything other than what we want our elected officials to do.”

“He was doing his job. He was doing it well,” Fee added.

Menendez, 70, has pleaded not guilty to charges that he accepted gold bars and hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash from 2018 to 2022 from three New Jersey businessmen and agreed to take official actions that would benefit their interests, including financially.

The New Jersey senator is on trial with two businessmen, Fred Daibes and Wael Hana, who also have pleaded not guilty. Daibes is a prominent New Jersey real estate developer while Hana obtained a monopoly to certify that meat exported to Egypt complied with Islamic rules.

A third businessman, Jose Uribe, pleaded guilty and testified against the others during the trial. A trial for the senator’s wife, Nadine Menendez, 57, has been postponed while she recovers from breast cancer surgery. She also has pleaded not guilty in the bribery case.

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