Prosecutors Are Trying to Sell You a Story, Menendez Lawyer Tells Jury

A lawyer for Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey, in a fiery closing argument on Tuesday at the senator’s trial on bribery charges, accused prosecutors of building a case that relied on half-truths, unsupported inferences, factual leaps and guesses.

“The gaps you are being asked to fill are not based on evidence,” the lawyer, Adam Fee, told the jury at the trial, which is in its ninth week in Federal District Court in Manhattan.

“Don’t fall into a trap of buying a story — a forceful, well-told, long, long story,” Mr. Fee said. “Resist that.”

As a politician, Mr. Menendez, 70, has long been known for his pugnaciousness. When he was indicted last September, nearly every major Democrat in New Jersey called on him to resign. Instead, he dug in for a fight. Mr. Fee mirrored that aggressiveness in his closing arguments as he also tried to humanize Mr. Menendez before the jury. “Imagine this is what you have to sit and see being presented as the truth,” Mr. Fee said.

As Mr. Menendez left the courthouse, he was asked by reporters how he felt about the day’s proceedings. “Better, now that we’re presenting part of our defense,” he said in Spanish before stepping into a waiting black Lincoln sedan.

Mr. Fee’s presentation followed a vigorous closing argument lasting about five hours over two days by a federal prosecutor, Paul M. Monteleoni, who asked jurors to return a guilty verdict against Mr. Menendez and two businessmen — Wael Hana and Fred Daibes — on trial with him.