NEWARK – Sen. Bob Menendez briefly commented on President Donald Trump’s continued Twitter bashing of Gold Star widow Myeshia Johnson as Menendez left his federal corruption trial this afternoon.
The hundred or so yards from the courthouse steps to Mulberry Street can sometimes be an uncomfortable gauntlet for Menendez. Television cameras are banned from the federal courthouse’s interior, and reporters generally keep their distance. But out in the open, even with rows of bicycle racks giving him a restricted lane and keeping the press a few feet away, Menendez is a sitting duck.
This afternoon, Menendez fielded a question about the trial – as always, he said he looks forward to proving his innocence – followed by one about Trump’s feud with Johnson.
“Her suffering is immeasurable,” the senator said, adding he would never talk about the loss the way Trump has.
Menendez’s departure followed came after that of the day’s most significant witness. Unfamiliar with the special press-free lane on his first day at court, William Brownfield was hemmed in by a handful of reporters and television cameras as he made his way directly down the courthouse steps, across the courthouse plaza and to the street.
The recently retired Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement stood by his testimony he did not view as a threat Menendez’s vow to hold Senate hearings on Dominican port security if the senator was not satisfied by the bureau’s actions.
Brownfield’s testimony, which began around 1:30 p.m. and will continue tomorrow, may explain why he was not called by the prosecution. The former ambassador offered largely benign explanations for the threats and official actions described in previous testimony. His booming Texas drawl clashing with his diminutive frame, Brownfield only seemed irritated when remarking he’d be coming back to testify Tuesday in the same suit, since he had only planned for one day away from his Washington, D.C. home.
Brownfield is the odd man out of a line of government officials called by the prosecution who describe an angry, peevish Menendez who used his influence to advocate for his friend and now co-defendant, Dr. Salomon Melgen. By the time Menendez met with Brownfield in 2012, Melgen was the majority owner of a company called ICCSI, which held an exclusive contract for security screenings in the Dominican Republic. The indictment alleges Menendez used this meeting with Brownfield and others to push Melgen’s interest. The defense has portrayed Menendez’s actions as sparked by broad policy concerns.
During their meeting, Brownfield testified he and Menendez discussed rampant corruption among officials running the Dominican Republic’s ports.
“I hope I’m not offending anyone in this room, I said the equivalent of, ‘Duh, there is a great deal of corruption,'” Brownfield said.
“I did discuss our port security program, our proposed port security program for the Dominican Republic,” he testified.
Though Menendez threatened to hold a Senate hearing if there was not a favorable result by July 1, Melgen’s contract remained in limbo when Brownfield embarked on a working trip to Miami, Haiti and the Dominican Republic in October.
During the trip, Brownfield recalled three specific conversations on ICCSI: one, with the deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Santo Domingo, with the U.S. ambassador, and with President Danilo Medina.
“It was a, an issue at the end,” Brownfield said of his meeting with the president. “If I had to say how long the conversation on that lasted, I’d say a minute.”
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