Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
High-stakes bribery trial of Sen. Menendez opens
N.J. Dem denies quid pro quo with Florida doctor
NEWARK, N.J. — Sen. Robert Menendez, enamored of a luxury lifestyle that he couldn’t afford, misused his perch in Congress to repeatedly help a prominent eye doctor in exchange for lavish hotel stays and other gifts, federal prosecutors said Monday at the start of the first corruption trial of a sitting U.S. senator in a decade.
Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, has pleaded not guilty to charges of bribery and conspiracy for accepting rides on a private jet, visits to an island resort and a stay at a five-star hotel in Paris, in exchange for helping the business interests of Florida ophthalmologist Salomon Melgen, a longtime friend who was recently convicted of Medicare fraud.
The trial carries high political stakes for the closely-divided Senate. A conviction could allow New Jersey’s Republican governor, Chris Christie, to replace the once-powerful Democrat.
If Menendez is convicted, Republicans would demand he immediately resign his seat. Democrats would be expected to support him pending an appeal, or at least until Christie leaves office in January. Menendez’s current term runs out in 2019.
Menendez drew a strong vote of support Monday when Sen. Cory Booker, New Jersey’s junior senator, appeared in the courtroom while Menendez’s lawyer presented his opening argument.
Before he entered the federal courthouse in Newark, Menendez told reporters that “not once have I dishonored my public office.”
Choking back tears, he said he had “always acted in accordance with the law. And I believe when all the facts are known, I will be vindicated.”
Prosecutors said Menendez illegally assisted Melgen in exchange for political donations and gifts, pressuring the State Department to issue visas to women described as Melgen’s girlfriends, calling to help Melgen win a contract for port security in the Dominican Republic and seeking to assist him in a Medicare billing dispute.
The reason, they said, was “Melgen gave Menendez access to a lifestyle that read like a travel brochure from ‘Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.’ ”
Melgen also directed more than $750,000 in campaign contributions to entities that supported Menendez. The government alleges they were inducements to get Menendez to use his influence on Melgen’s behalf.
Menendez and Melgen “definitely corrupted one of the most powerful offices in our country,” Peter Koski, a prosecutor with the Justice Department, told the jury in his opening argument.
Defense lawyers argued that prosecutors were distorting a close friendship that began long before Menendez joined the Senate in 2006. The two men spent holidays together and attended family events such as weddings.
Abbe Lowell, a lawyer for Menendez, said there was “not one single piece of evidence” showing that the senator had abused his position. “The evidence shows there was no quid pro quo, no this for that,” he said.
Melgen was once the top-billing doctor in Medicare. He was convicted in April of 67 counts of Medicare fraud, involving more than $100 million, in West Palm Beach, Fla., and potentially faces a 20-year prison term. Sentencing has been delayed until after the New Jersey trial.
Despite speculation he would testify against Menendez, Melgen has not agreed to help the prosecution in exchange for leniency.
That will create a challenge for the prosecution as the trial proceeds.
The government has no incriminating tapes or a cooperating witness who would testify that Menendez was trading official favors for campaign contributions or other gifts.