NEWARK -- A federal judge on Monday refused to throw out any of the 18 criminal counts against U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez and Florida ophthalmologist Salomon Melgen, clearing the way for the pair's bribery trial to enter the defense phase.

Defense attorneys had argued a U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning the conviction of former Virginia governor Robert McDonnell narrowed the scope of federal bribery law to exclude the acts with which Menendez and Melgen were charged.

"This court concludes that a rational jury could determine that the defendants entered into a quid pro quo agreement," he said. "Available to this jury is evidence that the jury is at liberty to accept or reject."

Menendez, the senior Democratic senator from New Jersey, has maintained his innocence since April 2015, when the Justice Department first announced an indictment accusing him and Melgen of swapping government favors for lavish gifts.

The indictment specifically alleged Menendez had intervened in a Medicare billing dispute, a port security contract and the visa applications of Melgen's foreign girlfriends, in exchange for private plane flights, luxury hotel stays, car service and campaign contributions.

In a motion filed Sunday, seeking a judgment of acquittal on the counts related to the alleged bribery scheme, attorneys said charges Melgen paid the senator bribes with the expectation of help "as opportunities arose" in the future -- a theory known as "stream of benefits" -- were in direct conflict with the Supreme Court's decision, which narrowed the requirements for federal bribery prosecutions.

In rejecting those arguments Monday, U.S. District Judge William H. Walls said his reading of the McDonnell decision found the high court neither abolished the stream-of-benefits theory nor held that an official act at the center of an alleged bribery arrangement "must be precisely identified at the time an agreement is made."

The defense also argued the meetings Menendez had with officials in the case didn't meet the narrow definition of "official acts" established by McDonnell, but the judge ruled there was sufficient evidence for a jury to conclude Menendez pressured others to take official acts on the doctor's behalf.

In addition to their motion regarding the bribery charges, the defense had filed a second motion for acquittal on the false-statements charge against Menendez, which accuses the senator of intentionally concealing Melgen's gifts when he completed Senate disclosure forms.

Attorneys argued the government had failed to show that the alleged false statements had influenced the decision-making of the body to which they were addressed, but Walls ruled a rational juror could find the forms had "a tendency to influence," and that the senator knew he provided false information in completing the forms.

The government did not have to show the forms were relied upon in making a decision, the judge said.



"All I've said, in effect, is the jury will decide whose version of what happened, or what did not happen, is more likely than not," he said.

The high court's ruling in the Virginia case had been cited by a federal appeals court in its decisions to toss the convictions of former New York state Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, a Democrat, and former state Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, a Republican. Federal prosecutors have vowed to retry both men.

A federal judge in Virginia this month also applied the McDonnell decision in tossing numerous convictions of former Louisiana congressman William J. Jefferson, who was released from prison Thursday, according to NOLA.com.

Despite Walls' ruling, the McDonnell decision is likely to play a role in the length and wording of the final jury instructions -- the focus of the appeals court's decisions in the cases of Silver and Skelos.

Melgen, who is being held in federal custody, was convicted in a federal court in Florida in April of numerous health care fraud charges, stemming from the same Medicare dispute at the heart of the bribery case. His sentencing was postponed until after the conclusion of the trial in New Jersey.

Thomas Moriarty may be reached by email at tmoriarty@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ThomasDMoriarty.

MaryAnn Spoto may be reached at mspoto@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @MaryAnnSpoto. Find NJ.com on Facebook.