as the defense begins their case I spoke earlier with the former Federal prosecutor Chris Gramiccioni to break down their strategy over the next several weeks Chris thanks for joining me good to see you again Raven thank you for having me all right well as the case now goes to defense what is the narrative we expect they'll present to the jury so I I think it's you can get the road map from what the defense opened on and the arguments were essentially this that Senator Mendez was really just engaging in constituent Services there was no connection there was no quidd proquo it wasn't the product of any specific bribe scheme and at best these were just gifts from really giving friends of Senator mendez's wife uh and Senator mendez's defense also opened on the fact that he didn't know any this was going on I think the statement that was used is that he was kept in the dark so I think this is going to be the theme throughout the defense case and and they're going to try to call Witnesses in order to be able to establish evidence in that regard well let's stand on that for a second cuz as you mentioned you know he has said he was being kept in the dark by his wife Nadine and that she was the driving force behind this alleged bribery scream now the prosecution has spent a lot of time trying to discredit that how does that defense prove that it was Nadine and not Bob who was behind the bribes it's difficult to do without soliciting self-serving hearsay so I've read reports and we'll find out this week but as I understand it the defense intends to call Senator mendez's wife's sister Nadine's sister and then also a sibling of his I think what you're going to get is some effort to try to be able to demonstrate that Nadine Menendez was in financial Dire Straits and she was embarrassed to be able to have her husband find out about that and this is based on what the defense opened on and then in terms of the Senator's sibling he he's got to find a way to get into evidence the concept an explanation on why all of these gold bars and cash and things of value were stored at the house and if you recall earlier on in the case the judge ruled that a psychologist could not testify that end so I think this is just my estimation I think they're going to try to introduce how Senator Mendez was raised and the difficulties he encountered in Cuba uh as through family members as an explanation on why cash was ordered at the house right generational trauma or something I I think was the defense all right so let's switch gears how else is the defense going to try and undermine the case that the prosecution laid out well they're going to attack again it's the government's burden to meet the all the elements Beyond A Reasonable Doubt and they're going to try to just demonstrate that there was no connection there was no Nexus to these things value that were given at best they were gifts or gratuities as it's referred to in the the United States code and interestingly enough like a week ago the Supreme Court came down with a decision that could be potentially useful to the defense in Snyder versus United States um and that decision was essentially that gratuities can't be prosecuted under the 2011 bribery statute one of which is the csil that Senator bendeez is charged with um so I I think what they're going to try to do is say these were just really giving constituents there's no connection there there's no you do this for me I'll do this for you I'll exercise this official influence on the condition that you give me and my family the these gold bars and cash and pay my pay my mortgage payments and such that's going to be their goal is to really undermine that connection and just make it that it's just a gift that wasn't the product of a bribe scheme you know Chris can we expect this Senator to testify and his own defense well you know interestingly enough um that's not a that's not a decision that has to be advised to the the government or the court until literally the last minute like nobody only the defense knows if that'll happen very interesting a lot to unpack so I appreciate the excellent Insight thank you for joining me anytime look forward to it again you take care have a good fourth [Music]