Just one of the five New Jerseyans who signed the Declaration of Independence went on to run for public office.

Abraham Clark had served in the Continental Congress in 1776 and was the only New Jersey delegate who supported independence from the start. The pro-Independence legislature recalled their other four delegates and sent a new delegation to join Clark.

Two of his sons served in the Continental Army; both were captured and brutally tortured.  The British offered to spare the lives of Clark’s sons if he would recant his signing of the Declaration of Independence, but he refused.

Clark ran again for Congress in 1791 and was the top vote-getter. He served in the Second and Third Congress from 1791 until he died in office in 1794.

Clark was the clerk of the New Jersey Provincial Assembly, before becoming Essex County Sheriff and a member of the Provincial Congress.  Clark and four others were appointed the Continental Congress on June 21, 1776 when New Jersey replaced delegates who opposed separation.

After serving in the Continental Congress through 1778, he later represented Essex County on the New Jersey Legislative Council.

Richard Stockton, one of George Washington’s best friends, served on the New Jersey Provincial Council from 1768 to 1774, when he was named to the New Jersey Provincial Supreme Court.

While serving in the Continental Congress, Stockton ran for Governor of New Jersey.  He and William Livingston tied on the first ballot and Livingston later won the race by one vote.  As a consolation prize, Stockton was offered the post of Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court, but he declined the offer.

His son and grandson represented New Jersey in the United States Senate: Richard Stockton replaced Frederick Frelinghuysen in 1796 and served two years, lost three races for governor, and then served as a congressman from 1813 to 1815; and Robert Stockton served as Military Governor of California before serving in the Senate from 1851 to 1853.

Francis Hopkinson was the customs collector in Delaware before moving to Bordentown and taking a seat on the New Jersey Provincial Council.

President Washington nominated him to serve as a judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Pennsylvania in 1789.  He served on the bench until his death in 1791.

Some historians say that Hopkinson, and not Betsy Ross, was the designer of the U.S. Flag.

John Hart began his political career as a Hunterdon County Freeholder in 1750.  He served in the New Jersey Colonial Assembly from 1761 to 1771 and later became of judge.  He served as a member of the Revolutionary Assembly before joining the Continental Congress thirteen days before the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

In August 1776, Hart returned to New Jersey to serve as Speaker of the New Jersey General Assembly.

His great-great-great-grandson, John Hart Brewer, was a New Jersey Congressman from 1881 to 1895.  Another descendant served as mayor of Hopewell and on the township committee until his defeat last year.

John Witherspoon, the president of a college that would become Princeton University, was sent to the Continental Congress in 1776 and served until 1784.  He served two terms in the New Jersey Legislature.

DAY TWENTY-EIGHT

Lawyers for U.S. Senator Bob Menendez rested their case on Friday after calling four witnesses, with the New Jersey’s senior senator declining to testify in his own defense, which is his right.  Menendez, in his own words, told reporters on his way out of the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Federal Courthouse in Lower Manhattan: “From my perspective, the government has failed to prove every aspect of its case.  And for me to testify and give them another chance to have, in essence, a second summation, go through the whole case again, and then go ahead and have their summation, and then have a rebuttal case at the end, is simply not something that makes any sense to me whatsoever.  So we look forward to the summations, and I expect my lawyers will produce a powerful and convincing summation, deduce how the evidence came out, where they failed across the board, and have a jury render a verdict of not guilty.”

No witnesses were called by co-defendant Fred Daibes’ lawyer, while the attorney representing another co-defendant, Halal meat executive Wael Hana, will call a defense witness when the trial resumes on Monday.

HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Jurors are expected to begin deliberating next week.

DAYS SINCE THE INDICTMENT: 284

DAYS SINCE MENENDEZ’S LAST CRIMINAL TRIAL ENDED: 2,419

MISSED VOTES: 34
There have been no votes in the Senate since June 20 and is not expected back in session until next week.

And in case you’re keeping track: it’s been 43 years and 61 days since a United States Senator from New Jersey was last convicted of accepting a bribe.

NEW JERSEY ABSTAINS, COURTEOUSLY
— Sen. Menendez rests his defense in federal bribery trial from New Jersey Monitor’s Dana DiFilippo: “Sen. Bob Menendez, in his first words in court since his federal bribery trial started eight weeks ago in Manhattan, told the judge Wednesday that he would not speak in his own defense and rested his case after just two days of witnesses testifying on his behalf. ‘I’m not seeking to take the stand at this time,’ New Jersey’s senior senator told Judge Sidney H. Stein, assuring the jurist he had discussed the matter ‘at length’ with his attorneys … After testimony by the senator’s sister and sister-in-law riveted jurors Monday, Wednesday was an anticlimactic end to the senator’s defense in a trial that was expected to end a week ago. Stein, as well as attorneys for all three defendants, have increasingly expressed concerns about “losing jurors” as the trial has fallen behind …  Stein on Wednesday doubled down on his frequent vows to speed proceedings up, telling Hana’s attorney Lawrence Lustberg that he won’t wait on a witness Lustberg aims to call to the stand Monday — who’s now stuck in Egypt awaiting a visa. “We’re all going to be as efficient as possible in the use of this jury. I’m not going to significantly delay things for that issue,” Stein said. ‘The rule in my court is: If you don’t have a witness, you rest.’”

CRITCHELY: MENENDEZ DIDN’T NEED TO INTERVENE BECAUSE GREWAL HAD “A WEAK CASE”
More from DiFilippo: “Jurors also heard a prerecorded video deposition of attorney Michael Critchley, who represented a trucking company owner in an insurance fraud case filed by the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office/ Prosecutors have said Hana and codefendant Jose Uribe bribed Menendez to derail the office’s prosecution of E&K Trucking owner Elvis Parra … Critchley testified that Menendez called him in March 2019 to complain that Parra’s case was ‘an abuse of prosecution,’ and the men agreed the Attorney General’s Office was being used by insurance companies to collect private debt. Under Weitzman’s questioning, Critchley said the senator did nothing ‘inappropriate or improper’ and that he occasionally talked with Menendez about criminal cases that made the news. Parra eventually agreed to a plea deal with a sentence of noncustodial probation, but Critchley said the plea offer was made because state prosecutors had ‘a weak case’ and not, as prosecutors allege, because Menendez called and met with Gurbir Grewal, then the attorney general, in a deal with Uribe that required the senator to ‘kill and stop all investigation.’

AND NOW, THE END IS NEAR
— Menendez Defense Rests Without Senator Testifying from New York Times’ Benjamin Weiser and Tracey Tully: “After calling just four witnesses, lawyers for Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey rested their case late Wednesday afternoon in Manhattan federal court, setting the stage for jurors to begin deliberations in his international bribery conspiracy trial early next week.”

IT’S NOT UNUSUAL TO GO OUT AT ANY TIME
— Bob Menendez’s defense rests without New Jersey senator testifying in bribery trial by CBS News’ Caitlin Yilek: “A handful of witnesses testified on his behalf, compared to the 30 witnesses called by the prosecution during the trial, which has so far spanned eight weeks. Menendez’s defense attorneys called his sister and the sister of his wife, Nadine Menendez, to testify on Monday as they sought to show it was not unusual for the couple to keep gold and  large amounts of cash in their home.”

* Sen. Bob Menendez declines to testify in his bribery trial as the defense rests

* Bob Menendez’s lawyers bring in family as they argue his trial defense
* Bob Menendez says he didn’t testify because prosecution failed to prove its bribery case against him

* Senator Bob Menendez rests defense case in federal bribery trial

SENATOR ON TRIAL:  DAY ONE | DAY TWO | DAY THREE | DAY FOUR | DAY FIVE | DAY SIX | DAY SEVEN | DAY EIGHT | DAY NINE | DAY TEN | DAY ELEVEN | DAY TWELVE | DAY THIRTEEN | DAY FOURTEEN | DAY FIFTEEN | DAY SIXTEEN | DAY SEVENTEEN | DAY EIGHTEEN | DAY NINETEEN | DAY NINETEEN (AND A QUARTER) | DAY TWENTY | DAY TWENTY-ONE | DAY TWENTY-TWO | DAY TWENTY-THREE | DAY TWENTY-FOUR | DAY TWENTY-FIVE | DAY TWENTY-SIX | DAY TWENTY-SEVEN