Former N.J. Sen. Bob Menendez’s latest argument for a new trial was rejected Wednesday by a federal judge.
Menendez, 71, was convicted in July 2024 on charges of bribery and acting as a foreign agent for Egypt. His sentencing remains on schedule for Jan. 29.
Following that conviction, the former senator has lodged several attempts to overturn the verdict or receive a new trial, all of which have been denied.
Menendez’s latest argument concerned a laptop computer used by the jury during deliberations. Prosecutors admitted that buried in the many trial exhibits, there was some material that should have been redacted from the jury’s view. Menendez and his defense team argued that was grounds for a new trial.
But Manhattan Federal Judge Sidney Stein pointed out Menendez’s many defense attorneys had their own time to review the laptop, and they didn’t flag the unredacted material.
“Either defense counsel chose not to inspect these exhibits or defense counsel did open and review these exhibits but did not notice the improper redactions,” Stein wrote in his decision. “Either scenario undercuts the theory that this evidence is a smoking gun laying [sic] in plain view.”
Menendez, who served 18 years in the U.S. Senate as a Democrat, was convicted on all 16 counts he faced after jurors deliberated for about 13 hours. Prosecutors have recommended he be sentenced to 15 years in prison next week.
Federal agents raided Menendez’s house in 2022 and found $480,000 in cash and $150,000 worth of gold bars hidden in the home, along with a Mercedes-Benz convertible in the garage and other valuables.
The suspicious items were given to Menendez as bribes for him pushing Egyptian and Qatari interests in government, along with getting his friends off the hook in New Jersey, according to investigators. The feds said Menendez “put his power up for sale” from 2018 to 2023.
With News Wire Services
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