Federal prosecutors accused the wife of former Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) of accepting gold bars, luxury cars and sham paychecks in exchange for political favors from her powerful husband, starting the second trial of a criminal bribery case that ended Menendez’s congressional career. Nadine Arslanian Menendez — Bob’s second wife — is standing trial on 15 counts in the bribery scheme, Courthouse News Service reports. An indictment charged that the couple took hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of bribes and gifts, including gold bars, from businessmen in exchange for the senator’s influence. “They were partners in crime, partners in corruption and partners in greed,” prosecutor Lara Pomerantz told jurors. “They were on the take.” Prosecutors said Nadine coordinated bribe payments in exchange for official acts on behalf of the Egyptian government, including efforts to unfreeze millions in U.S. military aid that had been paused due to human rights concerns.
Nadine is accused of introducing the senator to her longtime friend, Wael Hana, described by prosecutors as a "failed businessman" with ties to the Egyptian government. Hana later paid her sham paychecks through a shell company, prosecutors claim, after Menendez contacted a Department of Agriculture official in a bid to help Hana secure a lucrative monopoly on certifying halal meat imported into Egypt. Pomerantz told jurors that Nadine and Bob, together, repeatedly “promised to corrupt the criminal justice system” by accepting bribe payments in exchange for promises to interfere with pending state and federal cases against several New Jersey businessmen. A jury convicted Bob Menendez on all 16 counts he faced, including accepting bribes of cash and gold bars from three New Jersey businessmen in exchange for agreeing to help protect them state and federal criminal investigations. He was sentenced to 11 years in prison. Nadine, 58, was severed from standing trial with co-defendants after a breast cancer diagnosis. Nadine Menendez's attorney Barry Coburn cited "an absolute utter failure of proof in this case with respect to ‘knowledge and intent’ with respect to every single count," referring to two separate elements that must each be proved beyond a reasonable doubt.
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