Second day of jury deliberations to start in Sen. Bob Menendez’s bribery trial

NEW YORK — The jury’s deliberations will resume on Monday in the Senator Bob Menendez bribery trial in New York City.

A jury that began deliberations for three hours on Friday is expected to resume tomorrow morning in Manhattan federal court, as the New Jersey Democrat’s corruption trial enters its 10th week.

Menendez, 70, denies allegations that he was involved in a bribery scandal involving three New Jersey businessmen between 2018 and 2023, including working as a foreign agent for the Egyptian government.

He and two businessmen who allegedly paid him bribes in gold and cash have pleaded not guilty.

As he left court Friday, Menendez told reporters, “I have faith in God and in the jury.”

Lawyers spent more than 15 hours last week holding closing arguments They encouraged the jury to carefully consider hundreds of pieces of evidence and hours of testimony.

Prosecutors in their pleas emphasized the nearly $150,000 in gold bars and more than $480,000 in cash seized from Menendez’s home during a 2022 FBI raid. They say the valuables came from bribes.

They also stressed that Menendez appeared to be acting as an agent of Egypt in several ways.

Lawyers for Menendez maintained that the three-term senator had never accepted bribes and that the actions he took to benefit businessmen were part of the duties expected of a public servant.

They said his actions to expedite $99 million worth of military helicopter munitions to Egypt, and other communications he had with Egyptian officials, were also part of his job as a senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, a position he was forced to resign after charges were filed against him last fall.

Menendez announced a few weeks ago that he plans to run for re-election this year as an independent.