Menendez’s Lawyer Tells Jury That Bribery Case Is ‘Painfully Thin’

During a closing argument that stretched for nearly six hours over two days, a lawyer for Senator Robert Menendez tried to take apart the vast and complicated case that prosecutors spent weeks building against his client, calling it “painfully thin.”

Mr. Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat who is being tried alongside two businessmen, has been indicted on 16 felony counts, including bribery, extortion, obstruction of justice, acting as a foreign agent and conspiracy.

Prosecutors have shown jurors hundreds of text messages, emails, bank records and photographs of nearly half a million dollars in cash and gold bars that were found in the Englewood Cliffs, N.J., home of Mr. Menendez, 70, and his wife Nadine, 57. The couple received the gifts between 2018 and 2022 in exchange for political favors, the government says.

But Adam Fee, one of Mr. Menendez’s lawyers, said in a closing argument on Wednesday that prosecutors had failed to connect any of that evidence to an act of bribery or corruption. Mr. Menendez’s actions, such as calling government officials about investigations involving constituents or pushing for aid to Egypt, were part of his job.

“This case, it dies here today,” Mr. Fee said. “Because they have failed to prove that very high standard that Bob’s actions were anything other than what we want our elected officials to do.”

Mr. Fee finished his marathon closing argument just before the lunchtime break, testing the patience of jurors, who had also withstood a five-hour summation from prosecutors.