NEWARK, N.J. _ U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez said Tuesday he expects to be exonerated of federal bribery charges, as lawyers began picking the jurors who will decide his fate at his trial next month.
"Looking forward to picking a good jury," the New Jersey Democrat told reporters as he arrived at the federal courthouse here, flanked by his lawyers.
His arrival just before 9:30 a.m. set off a day in which U.S. District Judge William H. Walls, prosecutors and Menendez's defense team continued to winnow a pool of about 200 prospective jurors to the 12 men and women and four alternates who will hear the case.
Whatever verdict the panel reaches _ after a trial expected to last one to two months _ the verdict has the potential to reverberate far beyond the courtroom. Should he be convicted, it almost certainly would mean the end of Menendez's 30-year political career in New Jersey and could dramatically shift the makeup of the U.S. Senate.
Walls already has dismissed about 100 prospective jurors based on questionnaires they filled out at a hearing in June. As Tuesday's proceedings got underway, he began by questioning 12 others on their news consumption and television viewing habits.
Only a handful said they are periodic consumers of news, with one woman telling the judge she gets all her news from Twitter.
By early afternoon, not a single juror had been selected for the trial.
Indicted in 2015, Menendez faces a dozen corruption-related counts, tied to gifts including private flights, lavish vacations to the Dominican Republic and Paris, and more than $750,000 in campaign contributions that he received from a friend, Florida eye doctor Solomon Melgen, who is also charged in the case.
Prosecutors allege that in exchange for that largesse, Menendez extended his clout in Washington to benefit Melgen's business interests, including pressure the senator exerted on federal officials to adopt a policy that would help Melgen fight a $9 million Medicare overbilling dispute with the government.
Menendez also urged the Obama administration to take steps that would tilt a business dispute in the Dominican Republic in Melgen's favor and tried to help the doctor secure visas for overseas girlfriends.
For their part, Menendez and Melgen maintain that their friendship has been misunderstood. The senator has described Melgen has a genuine friend and maintained that the gifts were just signs of their lengthy relationship. He contends that any action he may have taken that benefitted Melgen was a coincidence and was motivated by his own deeply held policy views.
Jury selection is expected to continue through the week. Opening arguments in the trial are scheduled for Sept. 6.
