Cup of Politics: What's at stake as Bob Menendez corruption trial nears an end

Since Labor Day, New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez, a Democrat, has spent most days in a courtroom in Newark where he is on trial for charges that include bribery, honest services fraud and filing false disclosure statements.

That case could go to the jury shortly, and how it ends will affect more than just Menendez's personal freedom. It could also change what the government has to prove to win bribery convictions, alter the balance of power in the Senate, and put a state that has not elected a Republican to the Senate since 1972 on the national radar.

Paste BN reporter Herb Jackson — who also covers Washington for The Record in North Jersey — joins the Cup of Politics podcast to talk about the trial.