Cash stuffed into boots. Envelopes of bills tucked inside jackets emblazoned with the senator's name. Gold bars.
Prosecutors in the Sen. Bob Menendez bribery case on Friday released more than 100 photos of the cash and gold seized from the New Jersey Democrat's home, presenting a clearer picture of the evidence shaping his high-profile bribery trial.
Menendez is charged with accepting “hundreds of thousands of dollars” in bribes in return for official government acts.
The FBI said that more than $486,000 in cash was found in his home in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, which he shares with his wife Nadine Menendez, who also faces charges. She will stand trial separately. Both have pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutors from the Southern District of New York entered the photos as part of their trial exhibits. Although Menendez’s house is located in New Jersey, SDNY is prosecuting the case because some of the alleged misconduct by the senator had ties to New York.
Dozens of photos show stacks of bills tucked inside bags, shoes and jackets. One photo shows a stack of bills that prosecutors say totals $4,300, found in the senator's Congressional Hispanic Caucus jacket with his name embroidered in yellow.
Another photo showed a stack of $100 bills found in an envelope of another jacket embroidered with "Senator Menendez."
Prosecutors asked an FBI agent about the cash found in the senator's clothes during Friday's testimony.
“What were the name on the jackets?” a prosecutor asked the agent.
"Robert Menendez and Senator Menendez," the agent answered.
"Did you see the name Nadine on any of the jackets where you found cash?" the prosecutor asked.
"No," the agent confirmed.
Thousands of dollars of cash were also found tucked inside of shoes. An envelope containing $7,500 was found in a right brown boot, according to a spreadsheet detailing evidence from prosecutors. A left brown boot contained an envelope with $7,000, the document said.
Other photos in the exhibits included stacks of cash in disposable Forever 21 and Arc'teryx bags. Some of the stacks were rubber banded, and others were bound with labels denoting "$10,000."
Prosecutors also included several photos of gold bars, which they allege were part of the bribes. Thirteen gold bars were recovered at the senator's home, according to prosecutors. Two of the bars weighed one kilogram each, while the others weighed in at one ounce each.
Menendez's attorney Avi Weitzman said in court on Wednesday that the senator was not aware that his wife had gold bars, arguing that jurors should not judge someone by whom they live with.
Nadine Menendez kept the gold bars in a closet, which the senator’s lawyer said he did not have a key to. He also was unaware how she had obtained some of the gold, the lawyer said.
The senator has defended the cash found in his home, arguing last year that he has withdrawn personal cash for emergencies.
"For 30 years, I have withdrawn thousands of dollars in cash from my personal savings account, which I have kept for emergencies and because of the history of my family facing confiscation in Cuba,” he said last year.
