By Thomas Anderson
While most are enthralled with the case next door concerning a man named Trump, fireworks were going off in the courtroom of Judge Sidney Stein as the first day of the Menendez trial saw prosecutors and defense attorneys lay two different realities for the jury to weigh.
Opening statements are underway in the Southern District of New York and the legal team of Senator Robert Menendez has thrown everything against the wall pointing fingers at his wife Nadine while weaving tales of escapes from Nazi Germany by the great-grandparents of Menendez attorney Avi Weitzman. Menendez entered the court hopping over a rain puddle from the backseat of a Cadillac sedan, spry for 70 years old.
Prosecutors used their opening statement to keep things simple, laying out in obvious terms where and when Menendez sold his office, and for why- calling him a “Senator on the take”. Co-defendants Wael Hana and Fred Daibes present their opening statements in their defense today as the trial starts the second day of what will be a nearly 7-week trial.
Here’s a look at the headlines for day one of the Gold Bar Bob corruption trial:
Menendez trial starts with vastly different portrayals of the senator
NJ Sen. Bob Menendez claims he was ‘sidelined’ by wife Nadine, blames her for alleged bribery in opening remarks at corruption trial
Defense Blames Senator Menendez’s Wife as Bribery Trial Starts
Menendez was a ‘senator on the take,’ prosecutor says, while his lawyers blame his wife
US Senator Menendez’s motives, knowledge in dispute as corruption trial starts
Defence for Bob Menendez casts blame on senator’s wife
What to know about Nadine Arslanian, New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez’s ‘femme fatale’
‘Politics for profit’: Prosecutor calls Sen. Bob Menendez ‘corrupt’ in opening statements of bribery case