Biden-Menendez Payola
2024-06-11 03:48:31 UTC
NEW YORK (AP) â A New Jersey businessman took his star turn on the witness
stand in the bribery case against Sen. Bob Menendez on Friday, telling a
jury he believed he had a $200,000-to-$250,000 deal in 2018 for the Democrat
to pressure the New Jersey attorney generalâs office to stop investigating
his friends and family.
Jose Uribe testified in Manhattan federal court in the afternoon, providing
key testimony against Menendez and two other businessmen charged in a
conspiracy along with Menendezâs wife. Next week, Menendezâs lawyers will
get to cross-examine the naturalized U.S. citizen.
âNext week we get the truth,â Menendez said just before stepping into a car
that carried him away from Manhattan federal court, where he has been on
trial for the last month. Although he generally speaks briefly in Spanish
each day leaving court, he made the comment about truth in English.
Uribe, 57, who pleaded guilty to charges in a March cooperation deal, was
the star witness for the government in its bid to win a conviction against
the senator, who once held the powerful post as chairman of the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee. He was forced out of it after charges were
lodged last fall.
Menendez, 70, has pleaded not guilty to charges that he accepted gold bars,
cash and a luxury car in return for doing favors for the businessmen. Two
businessmen and Menendezâs wife, Nadine Menendez, also have pleaded not
guilty. Nadine Menendezâs trial has been postponed until at least July after
she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Uribe testified that he was close friends with Wael Hana, who is on trial
with Menendez, when Hana told him in early 2018 that New Jersey state
criminal investigations swirling around the trucking business of a friend of
his and his own insurance business could be largely put to rest if he was
willing to spend $200,000 to $250,000.
Uribe said Hana told him that he would go to Nadine Arslanian, who had begun
dating Menendez that year, and then âNadine would go to Senator Menendez,â
although Uribe did not testify about how the couple could resolve multiple
investigations.
Uribe said he held a July 13, 2018, political fundraiser for Menendez, which
the senator attended, raising $50,000. He said he attended an afterparty
with Menendez and Arslanian that included cocktails, along with âsome
laughs, some jokes and some dancing,â but there was no mention of the work
he expected Menendez to do on his behalf.
âIt was a crowded and loud place,â Uribe said.
He said his confidence that the deal was working faded in the fall when an
investigator from the attorney generalâs office asked to interview his
employee.
âI was not happy,â he said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Lara Pomerantz showed jurors a series of text
messages between Uribe and Hana in which Uribe pressed his friend to get the
senator to stop the criminal probes.
âPlease be sure that your friend knows about this,â Uribe wrote to Hana in
one text.
Pomerantz asked who he was referring to as âyour friend.â
Hana arranged for Uribe to have dinner with Menendez and Arslanian at a
restaurant in October 2018, but Uribe testified there was no mention of the
deal.
âNothing was discussed there of value I will say,â Uribe testified. âIt was
a pointless, a pointless meeting.â
Uribe said he began communicating directly with Nadine Arslanian in March
2019 and promised that he would buy her a car if she delivered on the deal
to get the senator to shut down New Jersey criminal probes.
âShe agreed to the terms,â he said.
When the prosecutor asked Uribe what he understood the terms of the deal to
mean, he said he understood that Nadine Arslanian would contact Menendez and
get him to use his âinfluence and power to do anything possible to stop and
killâ the investigations.
On Thursday, former New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal testified that
Menendez in an early 2019 telephone call and in a September 2019 office
meeting tried to talk to him about a criminal probe. Grewal said he followed
his policy and refused to do so, telling Menendez to contact defense lawyers
so they could reach out to trial-level prosecutors or the judge.
Uribe, of Clifton, New Jersey, pleaded guilty in March, saying during his
plea that he gave Nadine Menendez a Mercedes-Benz in return for her husband
âusing his power and influence as a United States senator to get a favorable
outcome and to stop all investigations related to one of my associates.â
Uribe was accused of buying the luxury car for Nadine Menendez after her
previous car was destroyed when she struck and killed a man crossing the
street. She did not face criminal charges in connection with that crash.
Menendez is also accused of helping another New Jersey business associate
get a lucrative deal with the government of Egypt. Prosecutors allege that
in exchange for bribes, Menendez did things that benefited Egypt, including
ghostwriting a letter to fellow senators encouraging them to lift a hold on
$300 million in aid.
Menendez also has been charged with using his international clout to help a
friend get a multimillion-dollar deal with a Qatari investment fund,
including by taking actions favorable to Qatarâs government.
https://apnews.com/article/senator-bob-menendez-bribery-trial-
954b785be7cd6605d4e751bf39fd2f58
stand in the bribery case against Sen. Bob Menendez on Friday, telling a
jury he believed he had a $200,000-to-$250,000 deal in 2018 for the Democrat
to pressure the New Jersey attorney generalâs office to stop investigating
his friends and family.
Jose Uribe testified in Manhattan federal court in the afternoon, providing
key testimony against Menendez and two other businessmen charged in a
conspiracy along with Menendezâs wife. Next week, Menendezâs lawyers will
get to cross-examine the naturalized U.S. citizen.
âNext week we get the truth,â Menendez said just before stepping into a car
that carried him away from Manhattan federal court, where he has been on
trial for the last month. Although he generally speaks briefly in Spanish
each day leaving court, he made the comment about truth in English.
Uribe, 57, who pleaded guilty to charges in a March cooperation deal, was
the star witness for the government in its bid to win a conviction against
the senator, who once held the powerful post as chairman of the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee. He was forced out of it after charges were
lodged last fall.
Menendez, 70, has pleaded not guilty to charges that he accepted gold bars,
cash and a luxury car in return for doing favors for the businessmen. Two
businessmen and Menendezâs wife, Nadine Menendez, also have pleaded not
guilty. Nadine Menendezâs trial has been postponed until at least July after
she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Uribe testified that he was close friends with Wael Hana, who is on trial
with Menendez, when Hana told him in early 2018 that New Jersey state
criminal investigations swirling around the trucking business of a friend of
his and his own insurance business could be largely put to rest if he was
willing to spend $200,000 to $250,000.
Uribe said Hana told him that he would go to Nadine Arslanian, who had begun
dating Menendez that year, and then âNadine would go to Senator Menendez,â
although Uribe did not testify about how the couple could resolve multiple
investigations.
Uribe said he held a July 13, 2018, political fundraiser for Menendez, which
the senator attended, raising $50,000. He said he attended an afterparty
with Menendez and Arslanian that included cocktails, along with âsome
laughs, some jokes and some dancing,â but there was no mention of the work
he expected Menendez to do on his behalf.
âIt was a crowded and loud place,â Uribe said.
He said his confidence that the deal was working faded in the fall when an
investigator from the attorney generalâs office asked to interview his
employee.
âI was not happy,â he said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Lara Pomerantz showed jurors a series of text
messages between Uribe and Hana in which Uribe pressed his friend to get the
senator to stop the criminal probes.
âPlease be sure that your friend knows about this,â Uribe wrote to Hana in
one text.
Pomerantz asked who he was referring to as âyour friend.â
Hana arranged for Uribe to have dinner with Menendez and Arslanian at a
restaurant in October 2018, but Uribe testified there was no mention of the
deal.
âNothing was discussed there of value I will say,â Uribe testified. âIt was
a pointless, a pointless meeting.â
Uribe said he began communicating directly with Nadine Arslanian in March
2019 and promised that he would buy her a car if she delivered on the deal
to get the senator to shut down New Jersey criminal probes.
âShe agreed to the terms,â he said.
When the prosecutor asked Uribe what he understood the terms of the deal to
mean, he said he understood that Nadine Arslanian would contact Menendez and
get him to use his âinfluence and power to do anything possible to stop and
killâ the investigations.
On Thursday, former New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal testified that
Menendez in an early 2019 telephone call and in a September 2019 office
meeting tried to talk to him about a criminal probe. Grewal said he followed
his policy and refused to do so, telling Menendez to contact defense lawyers
so they could reach out to trial-level prosecutors or the judge.
Uribe, of Clifton, New Jersey, pleaded guilty in March, saying during his
plea that he gave Nadine Menendez a Mercedes-Benz in return for her husband
âusing his power and influence as a United States senator to get a favorable
outcome and to stop all investigations related to one of my associates.â
Uribe was accused of buying the luxury car for Nadine Menendez after her
previous car was destroyed when she struck and killed a man crossing the
street. She did not face criminal charges in connection with that crash.
Menendez is also accused of helping another New Jersey business associate
get a lucrative deal with the government of Egypt. Prosecutors allege that
in exchange for bribes, Menendez did things that benefited Egypt, including
ghostwriting a letter to fellow senators encouraging them to lift a hold on
$300 million in aid.
Menendez also has been charged with using his international clout to help a
friend get a multimillion-dollar deal with a Qatari investment fund,
including by taking actions favorable to Qatarâs government.
https://apnews.com/article/senator-bob-menendez-bribery-trial-
954b785be7cd6605d4e751bf39fd2f58