Washington — Attorneys for Sen. Bob Menendez concluded calling witnesses on Wednesday, opting not to have the New Jersey Democrat take the stand in his own defense as he fights allegations that he traded political favors for gold bars and cash. 

A handful of witnesses testified on his behalf, compared to the 30 witnesses called by the prosecution during the trial, which has so far spanned eight weeks.

Menendez’s defense attorneys called his sister and the sister of his wife, Nadine Menendez, to testify on Monday as they sought to show it was not unusual for the couple to keep gold and large amounts of cash in their home. 

When federal investigators executed a search warrant at Menendez’s home in June 2022, they found more than $480,000 in cash stashed in envelopes, coats, shoes and bags, as well as 13 gold bars worth more than $100,000. 

Menendez, who has pleaded not guilty, is charged with bribery, extortion, wire fraud, obstruction of justice and acting as a foreign agent for Egypt. Nadine Menendez has also pleaded not guilty. Her trial was postponed until August as she recovers from breast cancer surgery. 

The senator’s older sister, Caridad Gonzalez, told jurors that their parents and aunt had a practice of storing cash at home after their family fled persecution in Cuba in 1951, before Menendez was born. She called the habit “a Cuban thing.” 

“Daddy always said don’t trust the banks,” Gonzalez said. “If you trust the banks, you never know what can happen, so you must always have money at home.” 

She recalled finding a stash of cash in a shoebox in Menendez’s home in the 1980s. 

But prosecutors undercut one of the points made by Gonzalez after she testified that she asked her brother to help a neighbor with an immigration issue. Prosecutors showed text messages between the senator and his sister that suggest he did not give that issue the same treatment that prosecutors say the businessmen who bribed the couple got. 

The businessmen, Wael Hana and Fred Daibes, are on trial with the senator. They have also pleaded not guilty. 

When they asked Menendez for help, he allegedly pressured a U.S. Department of Agriculture official to protect Hana’s halal certification monopoly and interfered in a criminal case in New Jersey involving Daibes, according to prosecutors. 

Russell Richardson, a forensic accountant, testified that Menendez withdrew about $400 in cash almost every few weeks from 2008 to 2022, totaling more than $150,000. 

The testimony was meant to bolster Menendez’s explanation that he withdrew thousands of dollars in cash from his bank account over decades because of his family’s experience in Cuba. 

Richardson testified during cross-examination that he did not find any record of Menendez withdrawing $10,000 in cash at one time. Some of the cash seized from Menendez’s home was found in bundles of $10,000, and Daibes’ fingerprints were found on some of the envelopes containing the cash. 

Part of Menendez’s defense strategy has been to pin the blame on his wife, claiming the senator was unaware of his wife’s financial challenges and her dealings with the businessmen accused of bribing them. 

Nadine Menendez’s younger sister, Katia Tabourian, testified that her sister and the senator broke up in late 2018 because her sister’s ex-boyfriend “was creating a lot of chaos in her relationship with the senator.” Menendez’s lawyers say the couple could not have plotted together during the pause in their relationship. 

Tabourian confirmed that her sister locked her bedroom closet, which Menendez’s lawyers said he did not have a key to. Investigators found gold bars and cash in the closet during the 2022 search. Tabourian said it was common for her family to give cash, gold and jewelry as gifts. 

Jurors are expected to have the case by the end of next week, following testimony from Hana’s witnesses and closing arguments. Daibes’ legal team rested Wednesday without presenting a defense. 

—Ash Kalmar contributed reporting. 

A case of H5 influenza, also known as bird flu or avian influenza, has been confirmed in a man who was working at a dairy farm in northeastern Colorado. That’s according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, which said it is the fourth confirmed human case in the United States since an outbreak among cows that appears to have started in March.  

The man was working in Northern Colorado and had direct contact with cattle that were infected with avian flu. To this point, the only U.S. cases have been among farmworkers.

The CDPHE says the person who tested positive for the avian flu only had one symptom — pink eye, otherwise known as conjunctivitis. He was tested after reporting his symptoms and received an antiviral treatment with oseltamivir afterwards. Those are the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommended steps when there’s a confirmed human case. The man, whose identity is not being released, has recovered.

This is the first confirmed a case of avian flu in Colorado since 2022. CDPHE state epidemiologist Dr. Rachel Herlihy said the risk to the public is low.

“Avian flu viruses are currently spreading among animals, but they are not adapted to spread from person to person. Right now, the most important thing to know is that people who have regular exposure to infected animals are at increased risk of infection and should take precautions when they have contact with sick animals,” Herlihy said in a prepared statement.

Jill Hunsaker Ryan, the executive director of the CDPHE said “Coloradans should feel confident that the state is doing everything possible to mitigate the virus.” The guidance for farmworkers includes the recommendation that people shouldn’t touch animals who are sick or who have died. For people who must handle such animals, the following is recommended:

– Wear personal protective equipment that includes an N95 respirator as well as eye protection and gloves.
– Wash hands with soap and water afterward. An alcohol-based hand rub could also be used if soap and water is not available.

“We can make these recommendations, but I think all of us realize that this may be a bit challenging for workers to comply with that,” the CDC’s Tim Uyeki said at a briefing with rural doctors last month.

It is unclear whether the man was wearing personal protective equipment.  

“Our partnership with the Colorado Department of Agriculture has been crucial in disseminating information to dairy farmers across the state,” Hunsaker Ryan said.

The three other confirmed human cases of avian flu since the March outbreak in cattle were found in Texas and Michigan. 

Anyone who has been working with dairy cows and begins to feel sick with possible avian flu symptoms should call the CDPHE at 303-692-2700 during the day or 303-370-9395 after hours.

More information about avian flu can be found on the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s website.

News of the case comes as federal officials are now debating whether and when to deploy 4.8 million doses of bird flu vaccine that are being filled into vials this summer. Finland announced last month it would offer shots to workers who might be exposed to the virus.

Vaccinating farm workers?

U.S. officials say manufacturing of the vaccines is expected to be done by August. 

Vaccinemaker CSL Seqirus says it is still in talks with the Food and Drug Administration to clear use of their shots in humans. After that, it would be up to the CDC to decide whether to roll out the shots for farm workers.

“No final decisions are made, but we are in the process of robust discussion,” the CDC’s Principal Deputy Director Dr. Nirav Shah told reporters on Tuesday. 

Shah said the vaccine debate hinges in part on whether more distribution of flu treatments might be a better alternative.

“If our goal is to reduce the number of infections that may occur, we have to wonder whether vaccination is the best route for that, or whether there may be other routes that are faster or even more effective such as, as I mentioned, more widespread use of antivirals,” said Shah.

Officials are also discussing other measures to help workers infected with the virus, Shah added, including the possibility of offering financial help with sick leave and further outreach.

Farm workers may also not be willing to get the shots, even if they were to become eligible for vaccination.

“If right now, H5 is not perceived as a pressing threat among farm workers, and I’m not speculating as to whether it is or not, but if that is the case, then uptake may not be robust,” said Shah.