In August 2019, at a North Jersey Italian restaurant, Sen. Bob Menendez seemed to know about a legal case and investigation that he and his wife are accused of taking bribes to stop, according to Jose Uribe. Uribe, who owns a trucking and insurance business, said he had already hosted a fundraiser for Menendez, met him several times, and bribed Menendez’s then-girlfriend, now wife, Nadine Menendez, with a car.

Uribe’s objective, which had been in place for over a year, was to secure a favorable deal for a business associate charged with insurance fraud in New Jersey and to halt a related state investigation that threatened one of his own companies. Despite having arranged the bribes through Nadine and a friend, Uribe had not directly discussed these matters with Menendez until their August 2019 meeting.

At the dinner on August 7, 2019, in Il Villaggio, Uribe claimed that Menendez displayed “complete knowledge” of the prosecution in question. When Uribe sought information about the investigation into his own company, Menendez indicated he would look into it.

The trial, which began in May, saw federal prosecutors and the judge closely examining Uribe’s testimony, granting some objections from Menendez’s defense attorneys, who have yet to cross-examine Uribe.

Uribe detailed the car bribe, stating he gave Nadine $15,000 for a down payment on a Mercedes-Benz in March 2019 and later arranged for or made dozens of monthly payments himself.

The expectation was that Nadine would leverage her relationship with the senator to resolve the state scrutiny on Uribe. By late summer, Uribe’s associate had secured a deal to avoid jail time, though a state detective was still pursuing an interview with one of Uribe’s close employees.

Uribe’s dealings primarily involved Wael “Will” Hana, a co-defendant in Menendez’s corruption trial, making it unclear if Menendez was aware of the full scope of Uribe’s requests until months later. Text messages revealed Nadine’s communication with Uribe about the senator’s involvement.

Former New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal testified last week about Menendez’s attempts to discuss specific insurance matters, though Grewal did not act on these conversations.