New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez was found guilty of all 16 federal charges against him on Tuesday, July 16, following an eight-week corruption trial that centered around his level of involvement with Egypt’s government. The decision came after a New York City jury delivered the guilty verdict on their third day of deliberations. Immediately after the verdict, Majority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer called for Menendez’s resignation: “In light of this guilty verdict, Senator Menendez must now do what is right for his constituents, the Senate, and our country, and resign.”
Menendez had pleaded not guilty to 16 federal charges including bribery, fraud, acting as a foreign agent and obstruction. Menendez declined to testify in his own defense, telling reporters during the trial: “From my perspective, the government has failed to prove every aspect of its case.”
Prosecutors claimed the New Jersey Democrat, 70, accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in the form of cash, gold bars, mortgage payments and more in exchange for the senator’s political clout, with the FBI discovering gold bars and more than $400,000 in cash stashed in places including jackets and shoes throughout his home. Federal prosecutor Paul Monteleoni said during his closing argument on July 8: “It wasn’t enough for him to be one of the most powerful people in Washington. Robert Menendez wanted all that power and he also wanted to use it to pile up riches for himself and his wife.”
The defense maintained that all of the actions in the indictment fell within the scope of Menendez’s position and that prosecutors failed to prove he took any bribes, with , defense attorney Adam Fee mocking the government’s case as “cherry-picked nonsense” and accused prosecutors of “fudging” the facts: “The only honest verdict I submit here is to acquit him on each count. His actions were lawful, normal and good for the country.” The defense also told jurors that Menendez and his wife, who has also been charged in the case, led separate lives and she had financial concerns that she kept from her husband.
Three New Jersey businessmen who were also charged alongside Menendez, along with the governments of Egypt and Qatar, were the alleged recipients. Two of those co-defendants, Wael Hanna and Fred Daibes, were also convicted of all counts they faced.
Menendez has served as senator for New Jersey since 2006; he is the first sitting member of Congress to be charged with conspiracy by a public official to act as a foreign agent. The recent trail marked the second time the senator was charged with corruption; back in 2015, an indictment against him ended in a mistrial in 2018 after a jury failed to reach a verdict on all counts. He has repeatedly refused to resign, though he did step down as the chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee following the initial indictment in September 2023.
Menendez’s wife got permission to delay her trial while she undergoes treatment for grade 3 breast cancer. Menendez will be sentenced on Oct. 29 and faces a sentence of more than 200 years in prison.
Editorial credit: lev radin / Shutterstock.com
