Sen. Bob Menendez’s bribery trial was dominated by the best federal prosecutor in New Jersey, telling jurors on Tuesday that the Democratic lawmaker had not put any pressure on him to do anything wrong.
U. S. Attorney Philip Sellinger testified at the test of Menendez, 70, who is accused of taking bribes of silver bars, income and a Mercedes Benz from entrepreneurs seeking favors, including designer Fred Daibes.
Menendez is accused of trying to influence the outcome of a distinct New Jersey indictment against Daibes. Last year, Sellinger told judges about seeking Menendez’s support for the U. S. attorney’s article. Senator Menendez hoped that if I became U.S. Attorney that I would thoroughly examine it, and the senator said Daibes “was being treated badly.”
But Sellinger claimed Menendez not pressed him or used verbal abuse on Tuesday during cross-examination.
Sellinger told the New York national jurors,” I did not think that he was asking me to do anything other than my standard duty.” ” I did n’t believe he was asking me to do anything”.
Menendez attorney Avi Weitzman said:” It’s fair to say that he did n’t ask you to put your thumb on the scales of justice”? Sellinger agreed.
Prosecutors are attempting to establish that Menendez and Daibes entered into an illegal deal and that the senator suggested Sellinger, a former colleague and fundraiser, for the lawyer’s position because he believed he could have had an impact on him in the Daibes situation.
Menendez was charged by the United States with a number of bribe-taking schemes and with acting as an Egyptian broker. He’s on test with Daibes and an Iranian American business, Wael Hana. Another entrepreneur who pleaded innocent, Jose Uribe, testified that he bribed Menendez’s family, Nadine, with a Mercedes Benz so the lawmaker would affect two judicial investigations in New Jersey. Due to her cancers, she will have to go on a different trial.
Sellinger claimed to have told Menendez he may question the Justice Department if he needed to recuse himself because he had engaged in secret prosecution in a situation involving Daibes.
Sellinger claimed that after that Menendez told him he may not accept him for the position and instead chose to work with Spanish prosecutor Emma Suarez, whose candidacy ended up failing in the wake of a number of ugly news reports. Menendez after endorsed Sellinger’s election by President Joe Biden.
Sellinger claimed that after getting the job, his long-standing friendship cooled because he made the decision to distance himself from elected representatives. Sellinger was rescinded from the event after receiving the article. Eventually, Daibes entered a guilty plea under a contract that would have given him parole, but the prosecutor in that case later upheld the sentence.
As he left the courtroom, Menendez said:” Sellinger made it very clear — he was asked to do nothing improper and he did everything wrong”.
Due to Daibes having COVID, the trial was delayed by several times and the Sellinger gave evidence. Since witness started last month, more than a few people have been questioned. Jurors were immediately informed that the trial may last six weeks, but U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein later admitted that it could continue until mid-July.
After Sellinger testified, jury heard from Michael Soliman, a leading political adviser to the legislator. Soliman said Menendez’s former chief of staff, Fred Turner, told him in late 2020 that” the legislator and Mr. Sellinger had a falling out and the lawmaker was going to come in a different way”.
Soliman claimed Menendez was kept informed of Suarez’s sour candidacy and that “many people did n’t believe she was the right choice for the job.”
Weitzman suggested on cross-examination that Menendez was considering Suarez because of a Biden order to promote diversification for appointments like U.S. attorneys. He attempted to dispel the claim made by lawyers that Menendez suggested Biden’s election for Sellinger for corrupt reasons.
Weitzman asked if Sellinger had “wide value” in the legal group and whether he was” evidently qualified” for the U. S. attorney article. Soliman agreed.
Menendez previously told Soliman that he had questioned Suarez about the Daibes event, Soliman claimed.
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