Jury in Menéndez Trial Asks: What is a Senator?

Bloomberg reports that on their first full day of jury deliberations at the bribery trial of Senator Robert Menéndez (D-NJ), a juror asked the judge a basic question: What is a Senator? The question, actually, may be a very pointed inquiry if it is related to whether Dr. Salomón Melgen could have been considered a Menéndez constituent. Menéndez is accused of taking bribes from the Florida eye doctor. Defense attorneys said during the trial that Menéndez regarded it as part of his Senate work to look after the interests of people beyond his home state. In his closing argument, Lowell reiterated that Menéndez never introduced legislation that benefited Melgen. U.S. District Judge William Walls declined to answer the question, and he refused that juror’s request for a transcript of Monday’s closing argument by Menéndez’s attorney, Abbe Lowell. The panel had returned to the Newark federal courthouse on Tuesday after spending about 75 minutes deliberating the day before. Walls told jurors that they should rely on their individual and collective memories to determine how to define a Senator. More here.