Sen. Bob Menendez put his “power up for sale” and in return raked in high-dollar bribes from New Jersey businessmen in the form of cash, gold and a vehicle, the prosecution argued Monday during the first day of closing arguments in the federal corruption case against the New Jersey Democrat.
Federal prosecutor Paul Monteleoni began walking jurors through the specifics of the multifaceted federal indictment Monday, saying that testimony from government witnesses, heard across seven weeks, showed “a clear pattern of corruption.”
It wasn’t enough for Menendez to be a major power player in Washington, entrusted with the power to approve billions of dollars in U.S. military aid or recommend a nominee for a U.S. attorney post, Monteleoni argued.
