Trial begins for Nadine Menendez, wife of former US Sen. Bob Menendez

NEW YORK (AP) — Jury selection began Tuesday in the bribery trial of Nadine Menendez, whose husband, former U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, was sentenced to 11 years in prison earlier this year for accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of gold and cash.

Nadine Menendez, 58, was originally scheduled to face trial last year with the 71-year-old Democrat, but a breast cancer diagnosis led to surgery that forced her trial to be delayed. She has pleaded not guilty to charges that she participated in the same bribery scheme that led to her husband's conviction.

Bob Menendez was convicted of taking bribes from three New Jersey businessmen in return for a variety of favors, including using his influence to help some of them in their dealings with foreign governments. The senator was convicted of acting as a foreign agent for the Egyptian government. He is scheduled to report to prison on June 6.

The filing of charges against Bob Menendez in fall 2023 forced him to surrender his powerful post as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He resigned as a senator after his conviction.

Throughout the senator's two-month trial, Nadine Menendez was mentioned repeatedly for her dealings with the businessmen. One of them testified that he bought Nadine Menendez a luxury car after the senator tried to get New Jersey prosecutors to drop a criminal investigation involving one of his associates.

In 2022, FBI agents raided the Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, home where the couple lived, discovering over $100,000 in gold bars and more than $480,000 in cash stuffed in envelopes in shoe boxes, jackets and boots.

The then-senator maintained during his trial that the gold bars belonged to his wife and that the cash resulted from his habit of hoarding money because his parents fled Cuba in 1951 with only the cash they had hidden in a grandfather clock.

Nadine Menendez, back right, wife of former U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, leaves Manhattan federal court, Tuesday, March 18, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Nadine Menendez, wife of former Sen. Bob Menendez, leaves Manhattan federal court, Tuesday, March 18, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Nadine Menendez, center, wife of former U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, leaves Manhattan federal court, Tuesday, March 18, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Nadine Menendez, wife of former U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, leaves Manhattan federal court, Tuesday, March 18, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Nadine Menendez, back right, wife of former U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, leaves Manhattan federal court, Tuesday, March 18, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Nadine Menendez, wife of former Sen. Bob Menendez, leaves Manhattan federal court, Tuesday, March 18, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

FILE - Nadine Menendez, wife of Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., leaves Manhattan federal court, Thursday, March. 21, 2024, N.Y. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, File)

TOKYO (AP) — Chicago Cubs fans take pride in being underdogs, a role that ended briefly when they won the World Series in 2016 to end a 107-year drought between championships.

They were right at home in Tokyo facing the Los Angeles Dodgers and megastar Shohei Ohtani in a two-game series to open the Major League Baseball regular season. Chicago dropped the first game 4-1, then allowed a homer by Ohtani in a 6-3 defeat in the second game.

Dodgers fans easily outnumbered Cubs fans 10 to 1 at the Tokyo Dome. On the sheer interest level, Ohtani was probably 60-70% of the draw in the sellouts, with the Cubs and Dodgers splitting the rest.

“That’s what’s great about the Cubs, we're always the come-from-behind team,” said Zach Valavanis, a Cubs fan entering a theme bar in the Tokyo Dome complex, filled with Cubs logos and memorabilia — and dozens of other Chicago fans.

“I feel like that’s been the case forever,” Valavanis added, citing the come-from-behind effort to win the 2016 World Series.

Cubs batting practice was well attended. But the Dodgers batting practice was a spectacle with hundreds of photographers, reporters and video journalists staking out Ohtani and his two Japanese teammates — pitchers Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki.

The Cubs have two Japanese players — pitchers Shota Imanaga and designated hitter Seiya Suzuki — who didn't go unnoticed. But they're not Dodgers.

“What did they (the Dodgers) spend — three, four, five billion dollars,” said Zach's brother Alex Valavanis, both wearing white Cubs jerseys. “I don’t think they can keep up that pace, but we’ll see.”

Cubs manager Craig Counsell kept it simple. He said being a very high-profile afterthought comes with the territory.

“We’re playing the world champions, you expect that from that perspective,” he said. “We’re playing against the most famous player in the world. So you expect it from that perspective as well.”

“When you’re the world champs, you get to enjoy the spoils of that — and that’s fair to me,” he added.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts kept his explanation even simpler.

“I think in totality, there’s still a few ballclubs that share that same lore of history," he said. “But baseball, a lot of it is cyclical, and so our hope is we can continue to ride this high tide as the Dodgers.

“I just think it’s more skewed because of Shohei. And nothing against the other Japanese players,” Roberts added. "But Shohei is just such a beast of this whole equation.”

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A Chicago Cubs fan makes her way to her seat before an MLB Tokyo Series baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Tokyo, Japan, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

Fans of the Chicago Cubs and the Los Angeles Dodgers walk around the Tokyo Dome ahead of an MLB Tokyo Series baseball game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Chicago Cubs, in Tokyo, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama)

Fans of the Chicago Cubs and the Los Angeles Dodgers walk around the Tokyo Dome ahed of an MLB Tokyo Series baseball game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Chicago Cubs, in Tokyo, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama)

Chicago Cubs' fans walk around the Tokyo Dome ahed of an MLB Tokyo Series baseball game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Chicago Cubs, in Tokyo, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama)

Fans hold up a Japanese national flag during team intorductions before an MLB Tokyo Series baseball game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs in Tokyo, Japan, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Fans of the Chicago Cubs and the Los Angeles Dodgers walk around the Tokyo Dome ahed of an MLB Tokyo Series baseball game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Chicago Cubs, in Tokyo, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama)

Fans of the Chicago Cubs take selfie at the Tokyo Dome ahead of an MLB Tokyo Series baseball game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Chicago Cubs, in Tokyo, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama)