Sen. Bob Menendez's corruption trial begins, his second in the last decade

NEW YORK (AP) — Sen Bob Menendez, a Democrat, went on trial in Manhattan federal court Monday, accused of accepting bribes of gold and cash to use his influence to deliver favors that would help three New Jersey businessmen.

Menendez, 70, sat with his lawyers and listened as Judge Sidney H. Stein told two separate groups of 50 prospective jurors about the charges against Menendez and two of the businessmen.

The judge told them the “sitting U.S. senator from the state of New Jersey” had been charged in a conspiracy in which he allegedly “agreed to accept bribes and accepted bribes.”

After he warned them that the trial was expected to last up to seven weeks, Stein let jurors raise their hands if they believed they could not serve for that length of time. Then, he took them one at a time into a separate room to ask them why.

Menendez is on trial with two of the businessmen who allegedly paid him bribes — real estate developer Fred Daibes and Wael Hana. All three have pleaded not guilty. A third businessman has pleaded guilty and agreed to testify against the other defendants. The senator’s wife is also charged, but her trial is delayed until at least July.

Stein had not finished questioning prospective jurors who said they could not serve when he finished for the day without yet beginning the process of asking general questions of all jurors, such as whether they know any of the parties to the case, including lawyers, the defendants and possible witnesses.

The judge gave no indication whether he thought it was likely that openings would occur Tuesday.

When Menendez left the courthouse at the end of the day, he gave a friendly wave toward reporters who asked him to speak as he walked quickly to a waiting car, but he left any meaningful comment for another day.

In the morning, Menendez, in a suit with a red tie, was dropped off in front of the courthouse at 8:15 a.m., forty minutes before former President Donald Trump's motorcade passed by on its way across the street to state court, where he is on trial for allegedly falsifying business records to hide hush money payments to a porn actor before the 2016 election.

Menendez did not speak to reporters who were kept behind barricades as he entered a security pavilion where everyone entering the courthouse is scanned.

The trial, the second in seven years for Menendez, has already sent the senator's political stature tumbling. After charges were announced in September, he was forced out of his powerful post as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

The three-term senator has announced he will not be seeking reelection on the Democratic ticket this fall, although he has not ruled out running as an independent.

The previous corruption prosecution of Menendez on unrelated charges ended with a deadlocked jury in 2017.

In the new case, prosecutors say the senator's efforts on behalf of the businessmen led him to take actions benefitting the governments of Egypt and Qatar. Menendez has vigorously denied doing anything unusual in his dealings with foreign officials.

Besides charges including bribery, extortion, fraud and obstruction of justice, Menendez also is charged with acting as a foreign agent of Egypt.

Among evidence his lawyers will have to explain are gold bars worth over $100,000 and more than $486,000 in cash found in a raid two years ago on his New Jersey home, including money stuffed in the pockets of clothing in closets.

The Democrat's wife, Nadine Menendez, was also charged in the case, but her trial has been postponed for health reasons. She is still expected to be a major figure. Prosecutors say Nadine Menendez often served as a conduit between the men paying the bribes and Menendez.

The senator's lawyers in court papers have said they plan to explain that Menendez had no knowledge of some of what occurred because she kept him in the dark.

According to an indictment, Daibes delivered gold bars and cash to Menendez and his wife to get the senator's help with a multimillion-dollar deal with a Qatari investment fund, prompting Menendez to act in ways favorable to Qatar's government.

The indictment also said Menendez did things benefitting Egyptian officials in exchange for bribes from Hana as the businessman secured a valuable deal with the Egyptian government to certify that imported meat met Islamic dietary requirements.

In pleading guilty several weeks ago, businessman Jose Uribe admitted buying Menendez's wife a Mercedes-Benz to get the senator's help to influence criminal investigations involving his business associates.

Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., arrives for the first day of his trial at the Manhattan federal court, Monday, May 13, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)

Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., arrives for the first day of his trial at the Manhattan federal court, Monday, May 13, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)

Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., arrives for the first day of his trial at the Manhattan federal court, Monday, May 13, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)

FILE - Jose Uribe leaves federal court, Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023, in New York. For the second time in a decade, Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., faces a corruption trial Monday, May 13, 2024, with his political career and freedom on the line. Uribe was accused of buying a Mercedes-Benz for Nadine Menendez after her previous car was destroyed when she struck and killed a man crossing the street. Prosecutors said Menendez twice tried to help Uribe by trying to influence criminal investigations involving his business associates. Uribe pleaded guilty and is expected to testify. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

FILE - Fred Daibes, one of three businessmen named as co-defendants with Sen. Bob Menendez, arrives at federal court, Sept. 27, 2023, in New York. For the second time in a decade, Menendez faces a corruption trial Monday, May 13, 2024, with his political career and freedom on the line. Daibes is accused of delivering gold bars and cash to Menendez and his wife to get the senator to use his clout to help him secure a multimillion-dollar deal with a Qatari investment fund, including by taking actions favorable to Qatar's government. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

FILE - Wael Hana, right, leaves the federal courthouse in New York, Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2023. For the second time in a decade, Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., faces a corruption trial Monday, May 13, 2024, with his political career and freedom on the line. Hana is accused of paying off Menendez for helping him get a lucrative deal with the Egyptian government to certify that imported meat met Islamic dietary requirements. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., arrives for the first day of his trial at the Manhattan federal court, Monday, Monday, May 13, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)

Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., arrives for the first day of his trial at Manhattan federal court, Monday, Monday, May 13, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)

FILE - Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey, left, and his wife Nadine Menendez arrive at the federal courthouse in New York, Sept. 27, 2023. For the second time in a decade, Menendez is finding his career and life on the line in a federal criminal case. The New Jersey Democrat goes to trial on Monday, May 13, 2024, in Manhattan federal court. Menendez and his wife are accused of accepting bribes from three wealthy businessmen in his home state and performing a variety of favors in return. (AP Photo/Jeenah Moon, File)

FILE - Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., arrives at Manhattan federal court, Monday, March 11, 2024, in New York. Jury selection is scheduled to start Monday, May 13, 2024, in the trial of Menendez, a Democrat charged with accepting bribes of gold and cash to use his influence to aid three New Jersey businessmen. (AP Photo/Jeenah Moon, File)

FILE - Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., talks at the Senate Finance hearing on Capitol Hill Thursday, March 21, 2024. in Washington. Jury selection is scheduled to start Monday, May 13, 2024, in the trial of Menendez, a Democrat charged with accepting bribes of gold and cash to use his influence to aid three New Jersey businessmen. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib, File)

PHOENIX (AP) — A judge on Friday rejected an effort by GOP lawmakers to use the term “unborn human being” to refer to a fetus in the pamphlet that Arizona voters will use to weigh a ballot measure that would expand abortion access in the state.

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Christopher Whitten said the wording the legislative council suggested is “packed with emotion and partisan meaning” and asked for what he called more “neutral” language. The measure aims to expand abortion access from 15 weeks to 24 weeks – the point at which a fetus can survive outside the womb.

It would allow exemptions to save the woman’s life or to protect her physical or mental health. It would also prevent the state from adopting or enforcing laws that would forbid access to the procedure.

Arizona House Speaker Ben Toma, who is a co-chair of the legislative council, said the group will appeal the court’s decision to the state Supreme Court.

“The ruling is just plain wrong and clearly partisan,” said Toma, a Republican.

Aaron Thacker, communications director for Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, noted that the final decision on the ballot itself remains in the air.

“There’s still a lot of scenarios at play," he said. "Even after the secretary certifies the signatures, the courts have to decide if counties can put it on the ballot or not."

Arizona for Abortion Access, the organization leading the ballot measure campaign, sued the council earlier this month over the suggested language and advocated for the term “fetus,” which the council rejected.

Attorney General Kris Mayes wrote in a motion to submit an amicus brief that “fetus" and “pregnancy” are both neutral terms that the council could adopt.

“It’s incredibly important to us that Arizona voters get to learn more about and weigh our measure in objective and accurate terminology,” said Dawn Penich, communications director for the abortion access group.

Democrats have centered abortion rights in their campaigns in this year’s elections. Organizers in five other states have also proposed similar measures that would codify abortion access in their state constitutions: Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Nevada and South Dakota.

Arizona organizers submitted more than double the amount of signatures needed for the measure to appear on the ballot.

FILE - Arizona abortion-rights supporters deliver over 800,000 petition signatures to the capitol to get abortion rights on the November general election ballot July 3, 2024, in Phoenix. A judge on Friday, July 26, rejected an effort by GOP lawmakers to use the term “unborn human being” to refer to a fetus in the pamphlet that Arizona voters will use to decide on a ballot measure that would expand abortion access in the state. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)