Jury selection starts this week for Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), who faces trial on federal bribery and corruption charges. (Andrew Miller | For NJ Advance Media)

By Ted Sherman | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

NEWARK—More than two years after he was indicted on a litany of bribery and corruption charges, U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez is finally about to go on trial in a case that could end his political career and dramatically change the dynamics of the Senate.

The New Jersey Democrat is accused of accepting lavish personal gifts, expensive meals and golf outings from Dr. Salomon Melgen—as well as hundreds of thousands of dollars in political donations—in exchange for using the power of his office to lobby for his wealthy benefactor's extensive financial and personal interests in Washington.

Melgen, who was convicted in April in a separate Medicare fraud case in the Southern District of Florida, was charged along with Menendez and is on trial as well.

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Salomon Melgen arrives at federal courthouse in Newark after he was charged in 2015. (Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media file photo)

Jury selection begins today in the fourth-floor courtroom of U.S. District Judge William H. Walls in Newark, where federal prosecutors will present a case heavy on salacious details of the favors Melgen allegedly bestowed on Menendez, including a stay in Paris, vacations in the Dominican Republic and multiple trips on private corporate jets.

Defense attorneys, meanwhile, will paint a picture of a 20-year bond of friendship between the two men that had little to do with politics. They have argued that much of the indictment describes actions by Menendez’s staffers, rather than the senator himself, "and many involve trivial functions rather than official acts."

At the same time, they called the indictment "hopelessly vague and defective."

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The superseding indictment charging Menendez and Melgen.

Conspiracy, bribery and theft of honest services

Menendez and Melgen were charged in April 2015, in a case brought out of Washington by the Justice Department’s anti-corruption unit. Known as the Public Integrity Section, the unit was heavily criticized for its failed 2008 prosecution of U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, an Alaska Republican whose conviction was thrown out because prosecutors did not share evidence with the defense team that could have exonerated him. More recently, though, the unit won a conviction against Philadelphia politician Renee Tartaglione, who was accused of defrauding a North Philadelphia mental health clinic of which she was president and landlord.

The charges against Menendez and Melgen include accusations of bribery, conspiracy, violations of the travel act—which forbids the use of the U.S. mail or interstate or foreign travel to engage in certain criminal acts such as bribery. The indictment also charges “theft of honest services,” under a statute that makes it a crime for government officials to deny the people they serve the “intangible right to honest services.”

Months after the charges were first filed, Walls dismissed four of the bribery counts. Federal prosecutors this past October, however, filed a superseding 18-count indictment that renewed the accusations and added new ones.

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The gifts

At the heart of the indictment is its first count, which charges both men with conspiracy to commit bribery and honest service wire fraud.

"The purpose of the conspiracy was for the defendants to use Menendez’s official position as a United States Senator to benefit and enrich themselves through bribery," the indictment said, including flights on private jets, use of a Caribbean villa, and a trip to Paris.

"Menendez withheld information from his senate staff to conceal the extent of his official action on Melgen," prosecutors alleged.

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A CL-600 Challenger jet, similar to Melgen's aircraft. (Ben May | Flicker)

Flight time

Melgen owned two private jets—a 10-seat Hawker Siddeley, and a 12-seat CL-600 Challenger—both stocked with refreshments and flown by the doctor’s own flight staff.

Menendez allegedly accepted numerous free rides, often flying out of Teterboro, N.J., and on more than one occasion, brought a guest with him. One time, a companion flew alone to meet Menendez in the Dominican Republic.

While Menendez has admitted flying as a guest of Melgen on at least three occasions, and paying back the cost of those flights years later after questioned about them, there were at least seven round trips made between 2006 and 2010, according to the indictment.

Menendez, said prosecutors, did not pay for any of the fights at the time he took them.

One such trip in October 2010 saw Melgen pick up the cost of an $890.70 first-class ticket for a flight for Menendez from Newark to West Palm Beach. Two days later, he paid $8,036.82 to charter a private jet to fly Menendez from Palm Beach to Washington.

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The golf course at Casa de Campo in the Dominican Republic. (File photo | Casa de Campo)

The Caribbean resort

Prosecutors said the senator often stayed at Melgen’s villa in Case de Campo, a famed luxury golf resort in La Romana on the Caribbean coast of the Dominican Republic.

The indictment made note that "the ocean-side community has a marina, three golf courses, thirteen tennis courts, three polo playing fields, equestrian facilities, a 245-acre shooting facility, a spa, beaches, restaurants, and a hotel."

Melgen's villa opened to a courtyard, had its own pool, and was serviced by a private staff who catered to Melgen and his guests.

"Between in or about August 2006 and in or about January 2013, Menendez stayed at Melgen’s vacation villa in Casa de Campo on numerous occasions, with and without Melgen present. On more than one occasion, Menendez was accompanied by a guest," the indictment said.

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The Park Hyatt Paris-Vendome, where Menendez spent a long weekend in April 2010. (Business Wire file photo)

A long weekend in Paris

According to the indictment, Melgen also arranged a three-night stay for the senator at the five-star Park Hyatt Paris-Vendome hotel in Paris in April 2010, where Menendez spent a long weekend with an unidentified woman "with whom he had a personal relationship."

After first asking a member of his staff whether the hotel had a government rate, the senator allegedly sent Melgen an email to book a suite or deluxe king.

Both rooms, according to Menendez's email, featured ";king bed, work area with internet, limestone bath with soaking tub and enclosed rain shower (and) views of courtyard or the streets."

The next day, said the indictment, Melgen used his American Express Rewards points to cover the cost of a suite for Menendez. The value of the three-night stay was said to be $4,934.10.

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One of the financial disclosure forms filed by Menendez. (OpenSecrets.org)

False statements

The Ethics in Government Act of 1978 requires all U.S. senators to file an annual financial disclosure form that reports income, gifts, and financial interests. The indictment said the purpose of the financial disclosure forms was to disclose, monitor, and deter conflicts of interest.

Menendez did not report any of the gifts or travel on his annual financial disclosure reports, the indictment said, in laying out a criminal charge of making false statements.

"It was part of the scheme to conceal that Menendez received things of value from Melgen without reporting them as required on his annual financial disclosure forms," the indictment said, alleging that the senator failed to disclose the flights he received from Melgen, as well as the Paris and Punta Cana hotel stays.

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A 527 organization set up to benefit Menendez, which benefited from Melgen contributions. (IRS | NJ Advance Media illustration)

Contributions

In the indictment, the grand jury said Menendez solicited from Melgen hundreds of thousands of dollars of contributions to entities that benefitted the senator’s election campaign and a separate legal defense fund "in exchange for specific requested exercises of Menendez’s official authority."

There was $751,500 to the 2012 re-election campaign to the senate that was given through various entities supporting Menendez.

In addition, the indictment said Melgen contributed another $143,500 to the New Jersey Democratic State Committee to benefit the Menendez campaign.

A staffer suggested asking Melgen, who with his wife had already contributed $10,000 each to a Menendez fund, to consider having two other members of his family contribute another $10,000 each, according to the indictment. Melgen's daughter and her husband later sent a $20,000 check, prosecutors said.

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Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 2013. (Susan Walsh | AP file photo)

Favors for a friend

Melgen appeared to have unprecedented access to the senator and his office and prosecutors said Menendez used his senate staff to accommodate the doctor's requests for official action and advocating on his behalf to federal officials.

They said Menendez "used the prestige, authority, and influence of his status as a United States Senator" to promote Melgen's personal and business interests with a U.S. ambassador, fellow senators, and executive branch officials, including a member of the president's cabinet.

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Menendez, who allegedly advocated for Melgen's port security business in the Dominican Republic, at the Beckett Street Terminal in Camden. (Tim Hawk | South Jersey Times file photo)

The port security deal

Menendez is charged with pressuring the State Department to put pressure on the Dominican Republic to enforce a multi-million-dollar contract for a Melgen-associated company providing cargo screening at Dominican ports.

The contract required all shipping containers entering Dominican ports to be X-rayed at a cost of up to $90 per container, making the contract worth potentially many millions of dollars, the indictment said. But soon after the contract was executed, Melgen's company and the Dominican Republic began fighting over its legitimacy and legality.

According to prosecutors, Menendez worked for Melgen's interests in the Dominican contract dispute in a meeting with the Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs.

At the same time, he is accused of using his influence to pressure U.S. Customs and Border Protection from donating shipping container monitoring and surveillance equipment to the Dominican Republic, which would also threaten Melgen's contract.

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Melgen at his eye clinic in West Palm Beach. (Richard Graulich | The Palm Beach Post/file photo)

The Medicare billing dispute

The indictment charged that Menendez interceded on Melgen's behalf in connection with a $8.9 million billing dispute with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services over the ophthalmologist's use of a drug called Lucentis.

The single-use vials contain excess solution, but Melgen allegedly used one vial to treat as many as three patients, while obtaining Medicare reimbursement for the full cost of three vials.

In a call on the Medicare billing, Menendez was said to have spoken to an official at the Department of Health and Human Services, asserting that the guidelines for use of a medication at the heart of the billing dispute were vague and that "a doctor in Florida was being treated unfairly," the indictment said.

When the official responded that they should allow the case to take its course and that the doctor had appellate rights, Menendez allegedly said not to tell him about Melgen's appellate rights and "abruptly ended the call."

Melgen was convicted in April in a separate trial in Florida in of defrauding Medicare by as much as $105 million through false claims, including charging for eye tests of blind patients.

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The State Department in Washington. Prosecutors said Menendez used his clout to help get visa for three of Melgen's girlfriends. (J. Scott Applewhile | AP file photo)

The doctor's girlfriends

Menendez is charged with using his influence to help obtain visa for a number of Melgen's girlfriends. Married with grown children, Melgen had romantic relationships with all three, said prosecutors, who did not identify any by name.

One was a Brazilian actress and model looking to come to the U.S. on a student visa.

"Sen. Menendez would like to advocate unconditionally for Dr. Melgen and encourage careful consideration of (the woman's) visa application," wrote a senate staffer to the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Visa Services at the Bureau of Consular Affairs.

The next day the visa was approved. Prosecutors said she enrolled at the University of Miami and her tuition was partly financed through Melgen's foundation, a nonprofit organization with the self-described purpose of "helping with the educational needs of disadvantaged persons and assisting with the economic educational needs of children in developing countries."

Another was a Dominican model who sought to come to the United States with her sister on tourist visas.

She emailed Melgen asking for a copy of a letter of support Menendez allegedly had promised.

"Hello my love," said the email, included in the indictment. "I write to remind you that you need to send me a copy of what Senator Bob Menendez's office sent you, which I need for the embassy. And also remember the bank thing please. Thank you. A kiss."

After the State Department denied the visas to the sisters, prosecutors said Menendez's staff was ordered to make a call to the embassy in the Dominican Republic and the visas were ultimately approved.

The third was a Ukrainian model and actress who needed a tourist visa to visit Melgen in Miami. Again, members of Menendez's staff worked to secure the visa, the indictment said.

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Defense attorney Abbe Lowell speaks to the press alongside to Sen. Robert Menendez after appearing in court in 2015. (Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

The trial

Legal experts say while the indictment clearly shows behavior some voters may find objectionable, it fails to indicate an explicit quid pro quo, and have questioned whether prosecutors will be able to show criminal intent.

They also have pointed to the repeated focus on Melgen's alleged girlfriends and the jet travel that they say "masks the weakness" in the case, as well as the lack of a smoking gun showing that the senator would act on Melgen’s behalf if he was paid.

Attorneys for Menendez have already filed motions with the court to dismiss the charges under a U.S. Supreme Court decision that overturned the conviction of former Virginia governor Robert McDonnell in a similar case.

The justices, narrowing the definition of "official acts"required under the federal bribery statute, ruled in the McDonnell case that "setting up a meeting, calling another public official, or hosting an event does not, standing alone, qualify as an official act."

Judge Walls said he will wait to hear evidence at trial before making a decision.

Trial is set to begin Sept. 6.

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Read more about the Menendez case

Menendez says Melgen Florida conviction will have no impact on N.J. trial

Melgen guilty in Florida health care fraud case

Supreme Court will not throw out Menendez charges

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Ted Sherman may be reached at tsherman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TedShermanSL. Facebook: @TedSherman.reporter. Find NJ.com on Facebook.