Transcript
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
A jury has found New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez guilty of all 16 counts in his federal corruption trial. Now, bribery, acting as a foreign agent and obstruction of justice - that's what he was found guilty for. For more, we're joined now by Nancy Solomon of member station WNYC. Nancy, nine-week trial - jurors needed fewer than two days to reach those guilty verdicts. Tell us about the evidence that got them to the verdicts.
NANCY SOLOMON, BYLINE: You know, prosecutors started with a blow-by-blow description of the stacks of cash and gold bars that were stuffed into jackets, boots and shopping bags in the Menendez home. You know, and I have to say, I've never seen a half a million dollars in cash, and those photos make an impression. There was key testimony from one of the businessmen charged in the bribery scheme who pled guilty and testified that he bought a Mercedes Benz for Nadine Menendez. She's the senator's wife and is also charged.
There was surveillance of a meeting with Egyptian officials who wanted help from Menendez to get U.S. weapon sales in which Nadine says, is there anything else the love of my life can do for you? And then Menendez helped write a letter from Egyptian officials to his fellow senators. And he sent it to Nadine to pass on to them, not from his staff.
MARTÍNEZ: Now, Nadine Menendez, his wife, seems to be at the center of this case. What's happening with her?
SOLOMON: Her trial was split off from the senator's because she was - she had recently had surgery for breast cancer and needed time to recover. That gave Menendez a better shot at a defense because his lawyers argued that Nadine didn't tell him she was broke and was accepting large gifts and gold bars from her friends. That didn't hold much sway with the jury, though. She still faces some of the same charges as the senator, and we'll see whether her trial gets scheduled, or, you know, maybe we'll see a plea deal.
MARTÍNEZ: Now, there are renewed calls for Menendez to resign. How likely is that?
SOLOMON: It's not in Menendez's constitution to back down. He faced a bribery trial in 2017 that ended in a hung jury. Afterwards, he stood on the steps of the courthouse and said, to those who were digging my political grave so they could jump into my seat, I know who you are, and I won't forget you. Then last September, after this indictment, the entire Democratic establishment in New Jersey called on him to resign, and he refused. The governor said yesterday after the verdict that if he doesn't resign, he should be expelled.
MARTÍNEZ: Wow. All right. So how is the Menendez indictment, then, playing out in the state's larger political landscape?
SOLOMON: Well, the governor's wife ran in the primary for the Menendez Senate seat. But we saw rank-and-file Democrats rise up against the party bosses, and eventually, she was forced to drop out. Then just last month, one of those party bosses was indicted for racketeering and extortion, and Menendez was a powerful political boss himself. So the verdict is coming at a time when there are significant challenges to bossism in the state.
MARTÍNEZ: All right. That's WNYC's, Nancy Solomon. Nancy, thanks.
SOLOMON: Thanks. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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