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      Judge in Robert Menendez Bribery Case Bars Some Prosecution Evidence

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      The ruling could undermine prosecutors’ ability to prove certain elements of the bribery case against Senator Robert Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat.In a potential setback for the government, a federal judge on Friday blocked the introduction of certain evidence that prosecutors wanted to use to support their case that Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey accepted bribes in exchange for approving billions of dollars in aid to Egypt.The judge’s order, which comes two weeks into Mr. Menendez’s corruption trial in Manhattan, could undermine prosecutors’ ability to prove certain elements of the multifaceted bribery charges against the senator.The ruling rests on protections afforded to members of Congress under the Constitution’s “speech or debate” clause, which bars the government from citing specific legislative actions in seeking to prove a federal lawmaker committed a crime.The U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York has said it intended to sidestep discussion of official legislative acts and focus instead on promises it says preceded Mr. Menendez’s votes and congressional actions.The judge, Sidney H. Stein of Federal District Court, ruled in March that although Mr. Menendez’s performance of a legislative act was protected conduct, “his promise to do the same is not.”Who Are Key Players in the Menendez Case?Senator Robert Menendez, Democrat of New Jersey, and his wife, Nadine Menendez, are accused of taking part in a wide-ranging, international bribery scheme that lasted five years. Take a closer look at central figures related to the case.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      in Elections

      Senator Menendez’s Wife Is Being Treated for Breast Cancer

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      Nadine Menendez is charged along with her husband, Senator Robert Menendez, in a complex bribery scheme. She will undergo a mastectomy.Nadine Menendez, the wife of Senator Robert Menendez, is being treated for breast cancer and will undergo a mastectomy, her husband revealed on Thursday.Mr. Menendez announced his wife’s cancer diagnosis in a statement released while he was in Federal District Court in Manhattan, where he is on trial on charges that he accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in exchange for political favors.“We are of course concerned about the seriousness and advanced stage of the disease,” Mr. Menendez, 70, said in the statement. “We hope and pray for the best results.”The timing of the announcement, issued by his Senate office, was conspicuous and punctuated a remarkable first week on trial. It came less than a day after the senator’s lawyers told jurors in an opening statement that Ms. Menendez, 57, was largely to blame for the gold bars and other lucrative bribes prosecutors say he took in exchange for helping Egypt and New Jersey businessmen.Mr. Menendez said he was releasing the information now because of “constant press inquiries and reporters following my wife.” He asked that she be given privacy as she battles cancer, which he described as “grade 3.”A lawyer for Ms. Menendez could not immediately be reached for comment. Ms. Menendez has not appeared in court.Ms. Menendez was originally scheduled to stand trial with him and two other defendants beginning this week. But last month, the judge presiding over the case, Sidney H. Stein, agree to grant her a delay and separate trial in July after her lawyers informed the court that she was dealing with a “serious medical condition” that would require surgery.The disclosure prompted widespread speculation in New Jersey political circles. But at the time, the lawyers only shared details of her diagnosis in a sealed submission to Judge Stein, withholding it from the public.The couple have both been accused of conspiring to trade Mr. Menendez’s clout as a senator and leader of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for lucrative bribes, including the gold bars, cash and a $60,000 convertible for Ms. Menendez. In opening statements on Wednesday, prosecutors described Ms. Menendez as a crucial “go-between” for the senator and New Jersey businessmen accused of providing the payoffs.The senator and his wife have both pleaded not guilty. More

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      Defense Blames Senator Menendez’s Wife as Bribery Trial Starts

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      Senator Robert Menendez is charged in a vast international web of corruption. His federal trial began on Wednesday.A lawyer for Senator Robert Menendez on Wednesday laid blame for the bribery charges the senator faces squarely on his wife — a woman he found “dazzling” but who, his lawyer said, hid her past dire finances and the source of her newfound income from her powerful husband.She had kept him in the dark about “what she was asking others to give her,” the lawyer, Avi Weitzman, told a jury in opening statements at the start of the senator’s federal corruption trial in Manhattan.The gold and some of the cash that the F.B.I. found in a search of the senator’s New Jersey home — items that prosecutors say were bribes — were kept in a locked closet where his wife, Nadine Menendez, stored her clothing, Mr. Weitzman said.“He did not know of the gold bars that existed in that closet,” Mr. Weitzman added, describing Mr. Menendez as an American patriot and “lifelong public servant” who “took no bribes.”Prosecutors have charged Mr. Menendez, 70, and his wife with accepting gifts worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, including cash, gold, home furnishings and a $60,000 Mercedes, in exchange for political favors for friends at home and the governments of Egypt and Qatar. It is the second bribery trial of Mr. Menendez, a Democrat who has long been dogged by allegations of corruption. He walked away largely unscathed from the first, which ended in a hung jury in 2017 in New Jersey. But the new charges, leveled in September by a federal grand jury in Manhattan, are likely to end the senator’s three-decade career in Congress.Who Are Key Players in the Menendez Case?Senator Robert Menendez, Democrat of New Jersey, and his wife, Nadine Menendez, are accused of taking part in a wide-ranging, international bribery scheme that lasted five years. Take a closer look at central figures related to the case.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      in Elections

      Opening Statements in Senator Menendez’s Corruption Trial: 5 Takeaways

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      The corruption trial of Senator Robert Menendez, a powerful New Jersey Democrat, spun into motion in Manhattan on Wednesday, with combative opening statements and an extraordinary claim by the defense.Speaking directly to the jury, a U.S. prosecutor asserted that Mr. Menendez “put his power up for sale,” trading favors involving Egypt and New Jersey businessmen for gold bars, cash and a Mercedes-Benz convertible. But it was a lawyer for Mr. Menendez who shook the courtroom awake, piling blame on the senator’s wife, Nadine Menendez.Mr. Menendez, 70, betrayed little emotion as he watched the opening statements from the courtroom, where he is facing some of the gravest charges ever leveled against a sitting U.S. senator. He has pleaded not guilty.He is being tried alongside two of the businessmen, Fred Daibes and Wael Hana. Prosecutors have also charged Ms. Menendez, but her trial was delayed until July for health reasons.Here are five takeaways from the senator’s third day on trial:The prosecution tried to keep it simple.Prosecutors have spun a dizzying set of accusations against Mr. Menendez, filing four rounds of charges that involve a halal meat monopoly, a Qatari sheikh and the inner workings of the U.S. government. All of it could easily confuse jurors.So laying out a road map for their case, they offered the panel a far simpler view: “This case is about a public official who put greed first,” said Lara Pomerantz, an assistant U.S. attorney. “A public official who put his own interests above the duty of the people, who put his power up for sale.”Who Are Key Players in the Menendez Case?Senator Robert Menendez, Democrat of New Jersey, and his wife, Nadine Menendez, are accused of taking part in a wide-ranging, international bribery scheme that lasted five years. Take a closer look at central figures related to the case.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      in US Politics

      New Jersey congressman Donald Payne Jr dies aged 65

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      Donald Payne Jr, a US congressman from New Jersey, died on Wednesday, more than two weeks after a heart attack. He was 65.Phil Murphy, the governor of New Jersey, paid tribute to his fellow Democrat, whom he called a friend and “steadfast champion for the people” of his state.“With his signature bow tie, big heart and tenacious spirit, Donald embodied the very best of public service,” Murphy said.“As a former union worker and toll collector, he deeply understood the struggles our working families face, and he fought valiantly to serve their needs, every single day.”Payne had a heart attack on 6 April. Taken to hospital in Newark, he did not regain consciousness.He was first elected to Congress in 2012, succeeding his father, Donald Payne Sr, the first Black congressman ever elected in New Jersey who also died in office.Reporting Payne Jr’s death, the New Jersey Globe said he had “checked all the boxes for support among progressive voters: he supported Medicare for All, the Green New Deal, racial justice, equal rights for all, reproductive freedom, public transportation, and free college tuition.”The paper also saluted Payne’s work to fund clean drinking water projects, with notable success in his own city, Newark, and his sponsorship of gun safety legislation.Among Payne’s fellow Democrats in Congress, Joe Neguse of Colorado said he was “devastated to learn of the passing of my dear friend and colleague … a giant, a true public servant whose kindness, good humor and commitment to his constituents knew no bounds”.Jasmine Crockett, from Texas, said Payne was “a progressive leader on transportation and infrastructure” and said: “I join his family, friends, and constituents in mourning a great man and fighter for the people of New Jersey.”skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionThe Rev Al Sharpton, the New York-based civil rights leader, called Payne “my friend and brother for many years”.In his statement, Governor Murphy said: “It was my great honor to work side-by-side with Donald to build a stronger and fairer New Jersey, and we will hold his memory close to our hearts as we build upon the Payne family’s deep legacy of service in advocating for the communities they served so dearly.“Donald’s love will live on in the homes of his neighbors in Newark, who now have access to safe drinking water, and in the good-paying jobs he helped create for his brothers and sisters in labor. And it will live on in his wife Beatrice, and their three children, Donald III, Jack, and Yvonne, who were the pride of his life.“Our heartfelt prayers are with his family during this difficult time.” More

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      Palestinian American Family Grieves Loss of Over 100 Relatives Killed in Gaza

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      The call came in around 4 p.m., while Adam Abo Sheriah was still at work in his pharmacy in New Jersey. The voice on the other end was sobbing.It took a few minutes for Adam to understand: His uncle’s home in Gaza City had been hit by Israeli airstrikes. His parents and his brother’s wife and children were inside, taking shelter after their own homes were bombed. Also struck nearby was a block of multifamily buildings in a neighborhood of Gaza City, home to many relatives and their families, who were hunkered down together.It was the day before Thanksgiving, and Adam’s pharmacy in Paterson was packed with customers, some of them picking up turkeys he was giving away. But Adam couldn’t stay. After the call, he walked out in a daze. His mind swirling with questions, he got in his car and started driving nowhere in particular.While on the road, he picked up his phone and started calling his family in Gaza. His father didn’t answer. Neither did his mother. He tried his brothers. Nothing. He tried every relative and friend in Gaza.Taking his youngest daughter Taly to school gives Adam a few moments of normalcy.Over the next eight hours, his frantic calls continued, but few details emerged. Soon it was midnight in New Jersey. The sun was just rising in Gaza. Reports were finally starting to come in. His family’s Gaza home was flattened, the whole block was gone. Voices beneath the rubble cried for help, he was told. But there was no way to dig them out. Eventually, the voices fell silent. Adam’s youngest brother, Ahmed, 37, the ambitious, energetic civil engineer, the children’s favorite who brought toys and fireworks, was found dead in the street.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Stacks of Cash at Menendez Home Were Not From His Bank, Prosecutors Say

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      The senator has said that money found in his house was from his own savings account. But prosecutors said that at least some of it came from “another person.”When Senator Robert Menendez was charged last year with corruption after investigators found $486,000 in cash stashed around his house in New Jersey, he offered a simple, “old-fashioned” explanation: It had been his custom to withdraw cash from a personal savings account to keep at home, a habit he learned from his Cuban immigrant parents.But federal prosecutors, in papers filed late Friday, presented fresh details that they suggested undercut Mr. Menendez’s claim. Some of the cash was wrapped in bands showing it had been withdrawn, at least $10,000 at a time, from a bank where Mr. Menendez and his wife “had no known depository account.” This, prosecutors said, indicated “that the money had been provided to them by another person.”This photo, which was included in an indictment, shows cash from envelopes found inside the jacket during a search by federal agents of the senator’s home.U.S. Attorney Southern District N.Y., via Associated PressRecently, Mr. Menendez’s lawyers had asked a judge to exclude much of the cash discovered in the home as evidence when the senator’s trial in Manhattan starts next month, arguing that there was no proof the money was linked to a crime. The prosecutors’ Friday filing was in response to this request.The issue of the cash cuts to a critical theme of the government’s case: that the senator and his wife, Nadine Menendez, had a lifestyle that was above their means and funded by bribes.A federal indictment says that the cash, along with gold bars and other valuable items, were “fruits” of a bribery scheme. Much of the cash found in the couple’s house in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., was discovered in a bedroom closet, prosecutors said in their filing. Additional cash was found in a duffel bag in an office, in a bag on a shelf above a coat rack in the basement, in the pockets of men’s jackets hanging on the coat rack, and inside footwear under jackets. In addition, more than $70,000 was found in a safe deposit box maintained by Ms. Menendez, the government said.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      You Can Still Smoke in Atlantic City Casinos. Workers Want to Ban It.

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      The New Jersey casinos are the last large refuge for smokers in the Northeast, but some employees say their health is at risk.Atlantic City casino workers have tried unsuccessfully for years to persuade New Jersey lawmakers to outlaw smoking on gambling floors. On Friday morning, they took their efforts to court.In a lawsuit filed in State Superior Court in Mercer County, groups representing thousands of casino employees accused state legislators of giving special treatment to casino owners by allowing them to let people smoke inside their facilities. The state has allowed casinos to “knowingly force employees to work in toxic conditions,” the workers argued in court documents, and as a result, casino workers have experienced “life-threatening illness and death.”“Pretty much the worst thing we hear on this job is, ‘Can I have an ashtray?’” Lamont White, who has worked as a card dealer at numerous Atlantic City casinos since 1985, said in an interview. “Pretty much every worker in New Jersey is protected, except for casino workers.”The lawsuit was filed against Gov. Philip D. Murphy and the state’s acting health commissioner, Kaitlin Baston. It asks the court to strike down the legal loophole exempting casinos from the statewide ban on indoor smoking.Most states with legalized gambling prohibit smoking inside casinos. Even in states where it is allowed, some casino operators have banned it. Atlantic City, the nation’s most prominent gambling hub outside of Nevada, has become the last major refuge for smokers in the Northeast. (Most casinos in Las Vegas also allow smoking.)The issue has long been contentious in New Jersey. In 2022, when legislation to prohibit smoking inside casinos was considered, the organization representing casinos opposed it. It argued that such a ban would be bad for business, at a time when they were contending with the lingering effects of the pandemic as well as the prospect of new competition from casinos in or around New York City.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More