A businessman from New Jersey, Jose Uribe, testified in court on Friday about a deal he believed he had with Sen. Bob Menendez involving a payment of $200,000 to $250,000 in exchange for the senator pressuring the New Jersey attorney general’s office to stop investigating his friends and family. Uribe, who pleaded guilty to charges in March, was a key witness in the bribery case against Menendez and two other businessmen. Menendez, a Democrat, has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him, which involve accepting gifts in return for favors.
Uribe testified that his friend Wael Hana informed him in early 2018 that the legal troubles surrounding their businesses could potentially be resolved through a payment to Menendez. He claimed that Hana mentioned that Nadine Arslanian, Menendez’s wife, could help facilitate the deal, although details on how it would be executed were not discussed. Uribe hosted a fundraiser for Menendez in July 2018, during which he raised $50,000 for the senator. However, Uribe’s confidence in the deal faded when an investigator from the attorney general’s office approached his employee for an interview.
Throughout the trial, prosecutors presented text messages between Uribe and Hana, in which Uribe pressed Hana to get Menendez to intervene in the criminal probes. Uribe made it clear in the messages that he was referring to Menendez as “your friend.” Hana arranged for Uribe to have dinner with Menendez and Arslanian, but Uribe claimed that no discussions related to the deal took place during the meeting. Eventually, Uribe began communicating directly with Arslanian in March 2019 and promised to buy her a car if she could get Menendez to stop the investigations.
Former New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal testified that Menendez had attempted to speak with him about a criminal probe through phone calls and office meetings, but Grewal followed protocol by refusing to engage and redirecting the senator to contact defense lawyers instead. Uribe, who had given Nadine Menendez a Mercedes-Benz in exchange for her husband using his power to halt the investigations, was also charged with assisting another business associate in securing a lucrative deal with Egypt. Prosecutors allege that Menendez received bribes in exchange for benefiting Egypt’s interests and facilitating a deal with a Qatari investment fund.
The bribery case against Menendez has included testimony from multiple witnesses, including Uribe, who played a central role in detailing the alleged deal between himself, Hana, and Menendez. Menendez’s wife, Nadine Menendez, who is also implicated in the conspiracy, had her trial postponed due to a breast cancer diagnosis. Menendez, once a powerful figure in the Senate, has maintained his innocence and denied the accusations of accepting bribes in exchange for favors. The trial continues to unfold in Manhattan federal court, with upcoming cross-examination of witnesses expected to shed more light on the case.
