Senator Bob Menendez’s accusation of fraud was uncovered by the key FBI picture he and his then-girlfriend and three Egyptian men were dining, laughing, and pouring wines at a Washington restaurant.
An FBI security expert testified Tuesday at the test in New York federal court that the feeling was cheerful. At the 2019 supper at Morton’s Steakhouse, the realtor sat a few feet away and posed as the partner of a colleague, who quietly took photos and made a blurry picture. One thing that stood out from Nadine Arslanian, whom Menendez had married a year later, was the difficult to hear.
” She asked,’ What else can the love of my life do for you”? ‘ Terrie Williams- Thompson, an FBI exploratory expert, told jurors.
Menendez, the former chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is accused of taking 13 metal pubs,$ 480, 000 in dollars and a Mercedes Benz in bribes in exchange for privileges he did for Wael Hana, one of the guys at the meal, and two other traders. Menendez, 70, is also charged with acting an adviser of the Iranian government and other atrocities.
Lawyers say the lawmaker attended the May 21, 2019, supper with Hana, an Iranian American, an Iranian intelligence official and Arslanian. The testimony came a moment after Menendez, who has pleaded not guilty, said he will run for reelection in November as an indie.
jurors were able to see how popular the FBI analysis was four years prior to the prosecution of Menendez, Hana, and another entrepreneur, Fred Daibes, thanks to the evidence provided by Williams- Thompson and another security expert. His wife, who now goes by Nadine Menendez, has cancer and will be tried separately.
Menendez and his wife allegedly held several meetings with Egyptian officials in restaurants where they are accused of discussing military financing and the sale of weapons to Egypt, according to text messages and emails that were seen by jurors.
According to the indictment, the Morton’s dinner discussion included “various matters of foreign policy” and the Egyptian monopoly Hana had received to certify U.S. meat exports as being in compliance with halal standards. The Egyptian government and the U.S. Department of Agriculture raised concerns about a sudden change in policy that helped Hana’s business.
‘ Laughing,” smoking’
“The eating, they were were talking, they were laughing, they were smoking”, Williams- Thompson said.
After the dinner, Hana gave Arslanian materials about the USDA objections, and she sent them to Menendez, according to the indictment. Jurors heard earlier from a former U. S. Department of Agriculture official who said Menendez told him in 2019 to” stop interfering” with a constituent over the meat inspection certifications.
In her testimony on Tuesday, Williams- Thompson said she follows subjects to understand their “pattern of life”, saying she may watch them surreptitiously in restaurants, school, church, or on a golf course. That night, she was one of two surveillance teams that caught up with Morton.
She said she did n’t know the subject of the surveillance, but it was n’t Menendez.
Our goal was to discover who the subject was meeting with and take pictures, Williams-Thomson said.
Williams- Thompson was questioned by Menendez attorney Adam Fee about how she memorialized the “love of her life” incident involving the Arslanian. She claimed she gave it to a member of the FBI, who kept a log of the surveillance results.
FBI agent Chase Hunter Mills, who took pictures outside the restaurant after the dinner, was also heard by the jury. Menendez left separately, but Mills got photos of the other four leaving.
Fee inquired about whether Ahmed Helmy, who had earlier been referred to as an Egyptian intelligence official in Washington, was one of the attendees at the dinner. Mills said he did n’t know.
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