FBI testimony reveals surveillance of Sen. Menendez during dinner at Washington steakhouse

In 2019, an FBI surveillance team in Washington, D.C. saw Senator Bob Menendez and his girlfriend at a fancy restaurant. The investigator, Terrie Williams-Thompson, shared this story with a New York jury during Menendez's bribery trial. She overheard Menendez's future wife asking what more she could do for him. The investigator was pretending to be on a date with another FBI agent while secretly filming and listening to the conversation at the table. This testimony was a key part of the trial against Menendez and three businessmen. The surveillance at the restaurant was part of the FBI investigator's job for the past 18 years. They observed the group at the table eating, talking, laughing, and smoking. The investigator mentioned that they heard laughter and nothing else that night. The FBI investigators testified that Sen. Menendez frequently dined at Morton's The Steakhouse in Washington, DC. The trial also included evidence like gold bars seized from Menendez's home and text messages from Nadine Menendez. The defense argued that the dinner was not a criminal plot but a regular occurrence for the senator. The FBI surveillance did not show any signs of the group trying to avoid being observed or photographed. The investigators did not witness anything suspicious during the dinner. Menendez and the others involved in the trial have pleaded not guilty.