NEWARK – Sen. Bob Menendez rushed from his federal corruption trial to Washington, D.C. this afternoon, headed for the Senate floor to cast a potentially crucial vote against a Republican effort to repeal mandatory consumer arbitration.

Menendez has been back and forth to D.C. a handful of times since his corruption trial started, but this vote may be the first time his caucus needs his presence. At least one Republican senator has said he will vote against the move to weaken the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau by killing the mandatory arbitration rule, and other Republicans absent due to health problems could bring the vote down to the wire.

Hustling to catch a 3:15 p.m. train out of Newark, Menendez briefly explained where he was going, vowed he would be back for court tomorrow morning, and hopped into a waiting car. Seconds after Menendez closed the passenger door behind him, the light rain falling almost all day switched to a downpour.

Not so lucky was prominent New Jersey attorney Donald Scarinci, who will be back for a second day of testimony Wednesday after Judge William Walls refused to extend the trial day Tuesday.

“Life is not fair,” the judge said to the flummoxed lawyer on the witness stand.

During the afternoon, Scarinci explained his role in securing two $300,000 donations from Menendez’s co-defendant Dr. Salomon Melgen to a super PAC during the 2012 Senate race. Scarinci, Menendez’s closest friend after Melgen, was raising money for a super PAC allied with then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

In May of 2012, Scarinci flew to Miami and had a dinner meeting with Melgen and another potential donor to discuss Menendez’s re-election campaign.

“I explained the situation in New Jersey, we had a very popular governor whose poll numbers were not 16% in 2012 – they were over 60%,” said Scarinci, referring to Gov. Chris Christie.

Days later, Melgen made a $300,000 donation to Majority PAC, all of it earmarked for races in New Jersey. Melgen sent the check via Fed Ex to Scarinci’s law firm, Scarinci Hollenbeck, “because I was the person raising the money,” Scarinci said.

Last month, prosecutors had implied Menendez had asked Melgen for the donation, possibly during a fundraising event at the Meadowlands. Another $300,000 check from Melgen came in October, after a fundraising visit by Jeb Bush for Menendez’s opponent Joe Kyrillos raised a rumored $1 million.

Likewise, progressive fundraiser Cory Vargas testified that, in December 2011, he compiled a list of 30 out-of-state donors he thought would be willing to help Menendez. Melgen’s name was on the list, and Vargas said it was his idea and not the senator’s. 

The prosecution objected to a chart of all Melgen’s donations to Menendez since 1998 being introduced into evidence.

“Just because someone gave a contribution on Day 1 does not mean the contribution on Day 2 isn’t a bribe,” Department of Justice lawyer Amanda Vaughn said.

Walls said the chart could be admitted with a witness other than Vargas on the stand, but in the meantime allowed Menendez defense attorney Murad Husain to read the chart aloud for the jury.

“Well, just expedite it, otherwise we’ll be here through Easter,” Walls said.

Earlier in the day, Melgen’s defense attempted to introduce evidence that a May 2010 trip on Melgen’s private jet was paid for by the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee (DSCC). Attorney Murad Husain hoped to show precedent for an October 2010 flight, which the defense said the DSCC should have reimbursed, and unlike the one five months earlier is charged in the indictment.

“The problem is that old adage: one sparrow does not a spring or summer make,” Walls said.

The trial continues tomorrow. The defense has said they believe their case will be presented by Halloween, but it’s unclear how that timetable is holding up with objections, sidebars and breaks.