NEWARK – The prosecution and judge in the corruption trial of Sen. Bob Menendez sparred with prominent New Jersey attorney Donald Scarinci this morning over Scarinci’s precise role in the senator’s 2012 re-election campaign, including efforts that garnered $600,000 in campaign contribution from Dr. Salomon Melgen.

Scarinci, who said he is Menendez’s closest friend aside from Melgen, testified he has raised money for Menendez’s campaigns since the late 1970s. Scarinci raised money for the campaign’s official war chest until May of 2012, when he began fundraising for two Democratic super PACs. Coordination between super PACs and campaigns is illegal.

Prosecutors failed in their bid to introduce two internal emails where Scarinci seemed to be setting up weekly conference calls and referring to himself “chairman” of the senator’s campaign. Scarinci refused to authenticate the emails, which he was not copied on and had not seen, and said the weekly conference calls had been initiated by someone else.

Judge William Walls kept the emails out of evidence, telling prosecutors Scarinci was the wrong witness with which to introduce them.

“I know what you want to do, but we don’t suspend the rules because of what you want to do,” Walls said. “So get a messenger and I’ll be with you. Get a messenger and you can probably have it coming in – but you don’t have a messenger.”

Scarinci admitted on the stand yesterday he solicited the two $300,000 checks from Melgen to Majority PAC, which prosecutors say were bribes from Melgen to Menendez. The prosecution appeared to advance the theory that Melgen gave the first check during the senator’s annual fundraising event at the Pegasus restaurant at the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, held on June 1, 2012. Though he was one of the chairs at the event, Scarinci said he had no memory of the 2012 event.

“It’s a $300,000 check, I think I would have known,” Scarinci said.

Both checks were sent via FedEx to Scarinci’s office, then FedExed to Majority PAC’s offices in Washington, D.C.

Prosecutor Peter Koski showed jurors an email from Scarinci to Melgen, sent hours before the fundraiser, with an attachment breaking down the differences between the two PACs: Patriot Majority USA and Majority PAC.

Menendez attorney Abbe Lowell pointed out the subject line read that Scarinci was sending the information “again.”

“Can’t he just ask whether this determines whether he was at the event or not?” Lowell asked the judge, exasperated.

Walls compared the cross-examination to the classic Akira Kurosawa film “Rashomon.”

“It shows the various forms of truth depending on the witnesses,” Walls said.

The morning’s back-and-forth led Walls to make a distinction about testimony from the witnesses in the case to the jurors.

“I want you to balance what that person tells you regardless of that person’s station,” Walls said.

“People take that stand and, believe it or not, they try to get over on the jury and the judge,” Walls added.

The judge stressed the warning was not just directed at Scarinci, but at every person who has and will enter the witness box during the trial.