Prosecutors make closing arguments in NJ Sen. Menendez trial

Plus, NYC's new trash bins. [FORWARD TO A FRIEND]( [VIEW IN BROWSER]( [DONATE]( [WNYC Politics Brief] ['He was acting like a bribed man' — closing arguments in NJ Sen. Menendez 'gold bar' trial]( Secret meetings with Egyptian officials. Google searches about the value of a kilo of gold. Cash-filled envelopes stuffed into boots and jackets. These are just a handful of the clues that led the U.S. Attorney’s Office to a years-long corruption scheme involving U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez and three New Jersey businessmen, Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Monteleoni said during closing statements Monday in a federal trial against the senator and two of the three businessmen. “Sen. Menendez wasn’t acting weirdly. He was acting corruptly,” Monteleoni said. “He was acting like a bribed man, because that’s what he was.” [Read more](. --------------------------------------------------------------- 🗳️ --------------------------------------------------------------- More politics stories to know this week What's happening around New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced new rules for the vast majority of New York City’s residential landlords who will soon be banned from piling up trash in front of their buildings — and will face fines if they don’t put out their garbage in bins with secure lids. [Read more.]( State Assemblymember Jenifer Rajkumar said she has opened an exploratory committee to run for New York City comptroller. [Read more.]( Just in time for summer beach reading, New Yorkers can visit libraries again on Sundays starting this month thanks to the newly adopted city budget that reversed $58 million in proposed cuts for the city’s more than 200 branches. [Read more.]( Could the solution to New York’s notoriously low voter turnout – and even the nation’s hyper-partisan divide – be to change how we all vote? A new documentary playing at Angelika Film Center's East Village location makes that case. [Read more.]( Days after city leaders approved a small funding stream to help affordable housing groups acquire apartment buildings, tenants, organizers and some city councilmembers set their sights on a pair of rundown Manhattan properties packed with “warehoused” apartments. [Read more.]( What’s going on in Albany State lawmakers are considering reducing the $15 base fee for congestion pricing in order to convince Gov. Kathy Hochul to unfreeze the program — but experts say that process could be moot if former President Donald Trump returns to the White House. [Read more.]( What's new in New Jersey New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy will sign a medical debt relief bill that the state Legislature recently passed and that includes some of the protections he has called for over the past two years, his staff confirmed. [Read more.]( House cleaners, at-home caretakers, nannies and other domestic workers in New Jersey are now entitled to the state’s minimum wage and other protections. But advocates worry they won’t be informed of the new rules. [Read more.]( Eleven Democrats are running in a special primary election on July 18 to replace the late Rep. Donald Payne Jr. It is an unusual, wide-open race that is challenging the long-held power of New Jersey’s political party machines. [Read more.]( --------------------------------------------------------------- 🗳️ --------------------------------------------------------------- [the logo for the Brian Lehrer daily politics podcast]( [Biden’s Fate Is Up To Exactly 4,672 Democrats]( With pundits and Democratic leaders pushing to replace President Biden on the 2024 presidential ticket, we look at his political future. [LISTEN]( Support WNYC + Gothamist Make a donation to support local, independent journalism. Your contributions are our largest source of funding and pays for essential political coverage and more. [DONATE]( [Facebook]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [Instagram]( [New York Public Radio] [WNYC]( | [WQXR]( | [NJPR]( | [GOTHAMIST]( [WNYC STUDIOS]( | [THE GREENE SPACE]( Copyright © New York Public Radio. All rights reserved. 160 Varick Street, New York, NY 10013 [TERMS OF USE]( You can update your [PREFERENCES]( or [UNSUBSCRIBE]( from this list.