The bribery case against New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez may be on the ropes.
After prosecutors finished presenting their case on Wednesday, U.S. District Judge William Walls suggested he may dismiss the heart of the case, citing a 2016 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that narrowed the definition of public corruption. Leaving the hearing with his lawyers and daughter, Menendez sang “Amazing Grace” in the courtroom elevator.
The judge’s comments came in the fifth week of a trial accusing Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, of taking bribes from co-defendant Salomon Melgen, a Florida eye doctor and top donor. Prosecutors say Melgen’s bribes included campaign donations, luxury trips and private jet travel. In exchange, the government alleges, Menendez intervened on Melgen’s behalf in various disputes with the U.S. and Dominican governments.
Defense lawyers urged Walls to dismiss the 18-count indictment before it goes to the jury, citing the Supreme Court’s decision to dismiss the corruption conviction of former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell. That ruling narrowed the definition of “official acts” and has led in the past year to the dismissal of several other convictions in corruption cases.
Menendez’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, said the senator didn’t engage in official acts on Melgen’s behalf, given the new definition. “There is no circumstance in which a legislator can walk into a meeting with an executive branch official and be indicted for saying words like ‘please consider,’” Lowell said.
Kirk Ogrosky, Melgen’s attorney, said prosecutors also failed to show that the two men entered into a corrupt agreement. “There’s not a scintilla of evidence of an agreement,” he said.
Quid Pro Quo
Prosecutors maintain that Menendez corruptly helped the doctor with a Medicare billing dispute, a contract standoff and the approval of visas for three of Melgen’s girlfriends. Defense lawyers argue the two have been close friends for a quarter century who exchanged gifts without breaking the law.
Walls, who repeatedly read from the McDonnell decision during three hours of arguments, said prosecutors appear to have satisfied the new requirements for proving an official act. But he questioned whether they showed that specific bribes were linked to specific official actions, as the Supreme Court required.
In their 2015 indictment, prosecutors said Menendez received a “stream of benefits” and acted on behalf of Melgen “as opportunities arose.” Justice Department attorney Peter Koski said the McDonnell ruling didn’t overturn that theory. But Walls said he’s inclined to rule that the legal theory no longer applies.