Menendez’s trial ends in a hung jury
NEWARK, N.J. — The federal bribery trial of Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez ended in a mistrial Thursday with the jury hopelessly deadlocked on all charges against the New Jersey politician and a wealthy donor. Prosecutors did not immediately say whether they plan to retry the lawmaker.
U.S. District Judge William Walls declared a hung jury after more than six full days of deliberations that had to be re-started midway through when a juror was replaced.
Outside the courthouse, a choked-up Menendez fought back tears as he blasted federal authorities and thanked the jurors “who saw through the government’s false claims and used their Jersey common sense to reject it.”
“Certain elements of the FBI and of our state cannot stand, or even worse, accept that the Latino kid from Union City and Hudson County could grow up to be a United States senator and be honest,” said Menendez, the 63-yearold son of Cuban immigrants.
Juror Edward Norris said 10 jurors wanted to acquit Menendez on all charges, while two held out for conviction. Norris said that after the prosecution rested, “in my gut I was like, ‘That’s it? That’s all they had?’”
The inconclusive end to the 2½-month trial could leave the charges hanging over Menendez as he gears up for an expected run for re-election next year to the Senate, where the Republicans hold a slim edge and the Democrats need every vote they can get.
On Capitol Hill, the top Republican in the Senate, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, called on the Ethics Committee to immediately investigate Menendez for possible violations of the public trust and the Senate code of conduct.
Menendez was accused of using his political influence to help Florida eye doctor Salomon Melgen in exchange for luxury vacations in the Caribbean and Paris, flights on Melgen’s private jet and hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions to organizations that supported the senator directly or indirectly.
Prosecutors said that Menendez, in return, pressured government officials on Melgen’s behalf over an $8.9 million Medicare billing dispute and a stalled contract to provide port screening equipment in the Dominican Republic, and also helped obtain U.S. visas for the 63-year-old doctor’s girlfriends.
According to prosecutors, Melgen essentially put Menendez on the payroll and made the politician his “personal senator,” available as needed.
The defense argued that the gifts were not bribes but tokens of friendship between two men who were “like brothers.” In Menendez attorney Abbe Lowell’s closing argument, he used the words “friend,” ‘’friends” or “friendship” more than 80 times.
Menendez’s lawyers contended also that the government failed to establish a direct connection between Melgen’s gifts and specific actions taken by the senator.
The two men faced about a dozen counts each, including bribery, conspiracy and the most serious charge, honest services fraud, punishable by up to 20 years in prison. The senator was also charged with making false statements in failing to report gifts from Melgen on his financial disclosure form.
In a statement, the U.S. Justice Department said it will consider its next step.