Gold bars and stacks of cash highlighted the testimony of the first witness in the corruption trial of Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) on Thursday, as prosecutor’s sought to drive home for jurors the scale of the alleged bribes.
Former federal prosecutor Chris Gramiccioni told NJ Spotlight News the physical presence of the evidence could add significant weight to the prosecution’s arguments in juror’s minds.
“The impact is to make it clear out of the box ‘this is the physical evidence we’re going to prove was the subject of the bribe scheme,'” Gramiccioni said. “And it’s pretty powerful to have the jury handle it and visibly see it and pass it around.”
That first witness, an FBI agent who participated in a raid of Menendez’s home, took the stand after attorneys for two other defendants — Wael Hana and Fred Daibes — gave their opening arguments. Both defense attorneys claimed what the FBI found was not evidence of bribes but rather gifts that had been given to the senator’s wife, Nadine Menendez, without the senator’s knowledge and without any expectation of anything in return.
It sets the stage for a defense that will likely lean heavily on blaming Nadine Menendez.
“It’s really easy to blame the person who isn’t in the chair at the trial,” Gramiccioni said, “which is Mrs. Menendez.”
