Federal Election Commission: Sen. Menendez paid $2M to Paul Hastings law firm, defense attorneys
Filings with the Federal Election commission show that Sen. Menendez paid the money to the Washington-based Paul Hastings law firm, which employs the senator’s lead defense attorney, Adam Fee.
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The jury in the trial of Sen. Bob Menendez is on break for the Memorial Day holiday.
In the meantime, News 12 has learned that the senator has paid $2 million to attorneys who are defending him against federal bribery charges.
Filings with the Federal Election commission show that Sen. Menendez paid the money to the Washington-based Paul Hastings law firm, which employs the senator’s lead defense attorney, Adam Fee.
The money comes from the senator’s legal defense fund which donors can contribute to.
In week two of the trial, federal prosecutors attempted to prove that Menendez and his wife Nadine took bribes in the form of cash and gold from a family friend, Wael Hana.
He is the owner of ISEG Halal, an Edgewater company that prosecutors say Menendez helped get a deal with Egypt to be the country’s only certifier of halal meat imported from the US.
During testimony last week, a former attorney for that company told jurors he arranged a $20,000 payment to help Nadine Menendez with her mortgage.
Prosecutors also allege that for a three-month period, Hana paid Nadine Menendez $30,000 for a no-show job at ISEG Halal. Prosecutors say those were bribes.
Attorneys for the defense argue that Menendez and Hana have denied giving or taking bribes, and any payments were simply gifts between long-time friends.
The prosecution will continue to lay out its case against Menendez when the trial resumes on Tuesday in Manhattan federal court.
