The Courier-Journal (Louisville)

Menendez’s attorneys compare him to Swift

NJ Democrat denies allegation of bribery

When is Sen. Bob Menendez like pop megastar Taylor Swift?

When he’s trying to get his federal criminal case dismissed.

New Jersey’s senior senator has pleaded not guilty to corruption and bribery charges. And he invoked the 14time Grammy winner in a legal filing Monday.

It’s more complicate­d than telling the judge to just “shake it off.” Among the charges brought by prosecutor­s in the Southern District of New York are allegation­s that Menendez agreed to use his political connection­s to influence a state matter.

Specifical­ly, prosecutor­s say that Menendez wanted to stop the federal criminal trial of a developer who paid him – in those infamous gold bars and envelopes of cash – for business favors involving the government of Qatar.

To do that, prosecutor­s say, Menendez recommende­d that President Joe Biden nominate a new U.S. attorney who he thought could be influenced, then contacted a state official and agreed to “call” another one “in an attempt ... to resolve these matters favorably.”

“That is not the crime of federal bribery. It is akin to paying any prominent person (say, Taylor Swift) to influence a state proceeding,” Menendez’s legal team wrote. “She certainly has influence (perhaps more than a senator!), and paying her to intercede may feel unethical, but since it does not involve the corruption of any official power, it does not amount to bribery.”

The lawyers continued, “The government’s allegation is akin to paying a senator to attempt to influence the outcome of the Super Bowl or Academy Awards . ... At least absent allegation­s explaining why the official has power or leverage over the matter, that sort of an agreement might violate ethics rules but is no more a federal bribe than the hypothetic­al payment to Taylor Swift.”

The 48-page filing was a response to a 196-page prosecutor­ial filing that sought to debunk Menendez’s claims for dismissal. The prosecutio­n’s document gave new details regarding a confidenti­al source and secret recordings.

A recording reveals “there was no honor among thieves,” the New York U.S. attorney wrote. New Jersey businessme­n Wael Hana “‘swindled’ Menendez and (expletive over) Nadine Menendez by not giving them the full value of the bribes they should have received.”

The prosecutor­s also pooh-poohed Menendez’s efforts to claim that he is immune by virtue of the Constituti­on’s Speech or Debate clause, which protects federal lawmakers from prosecutio­n for official acts. Both the district and appeals courts rejected “substantia­lly similar” claims in his prior federal criminal trial, the government wrote.

The Record and NorthJerse­y.com are seeking to unseal additional documents that have been entered in the case.

Menendez has been on the offensive inside and outside the courtroom to discredit the prosecutio­n, which filed an updated indictment in January.

“The mere filing of these unproved charges, in itself, has caused immense harm to the senator and his reputation in the middle of an active election cycle,” Menendez’s attorneys wrote Monday.

The senator is up for reelection and needs to win the New Jersey primary June 4, likely around the time of closing arguments if the trial date stands. Rep. Andy Kim and New Jersey first lady Tammy Murphy, both Democrats, have announced their candidacy.

Menendez has said the federal prosecutor’s office is engaged “not in a prosecutio­n but a persecutio­n.”