On Tuesday, a jury found Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) guilty of multiple bribery charges. He had pleaded not guilty to 18 charges, but it took a jury over 12 hours of deliberation over three days to declare him guilty.
“Menendez, 70, wearing a blue suit and pink tie, sat with his head bowed at the defense table and kept a poker face while the jury forewoman read the word ‘guilty’ 18 times, for each count that he and his two co-defendants faced,” reports the New York Post.
The court found that Menendez and his co-defendants accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes, including a luxury car and gold bars from foreign nationals, in exchange for his influence on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Over nine weeks of testimony, the jury learned how representatives of business interests and the governments of Qatar and Egypt lavished gifts and money on Menendez to take advantage of his position in the Senate.
“According to the indictment, Senator Menendez and his wife ‘agreed to and did accept hundreds of thousands of dollars of bribes’ in return for Menendez's ‘power and influence as a senator to protect and enrich’ the three individuals — named as Wael Hana, Jose Uribe, and Fred Daibes — and ‘to benefit the Arab Republic of Egypt’ as well as Qatar,” reports my colleague, Spencer Brown at Townhall.
“Mr. Menendez sold the power of his office,” prosecutor Paul Monteleoni declared in his closing arguments.
“It wasn’t enough for him to be one of the most powerful people in Washington,” Monteleoni added. “It wasn’t enough for him to be entrusted by the public with the power to approve billions of dollars of U.S. military aid to foreign countries. Robert Menendez wanted all that power — but he also wanted to use it to pile up riches for himself and his wife.”
Menendez could face as much as 200 years in prison for these crimes. Sentencing will take place Oct. 29.
Related: 'Gold Bars' Menendez Is in More Trouble
More immediately, the conviction will likely accelerate calls for Menendez to resign from the Senate. Rep. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) handily defeated him in the Garden State’s Democratic primary in June, and Menendez announced plans to run as an independent to defend his seat.
This wasn’t the first time Menendez faced corruption charges. A 2017 case in which he faced charges of taking bribes in exchange for favors to a Florida doctor ended in a mistrial.
The trial uncovered the whole astonishing story of Menendez and his corruption, including how the senator bragged to Uribe in 2020 that “I saved you’re a**, not once but twice.” Uribe would go on to plead guilty and turn on Menendez.
Some wild photos from the indictment: https://t.co/F3nbTWGmPr pic.twitter.com/t1s4elB9vJ
— Spencer Brown (@itsSpencerBrown) September 22, 2023
“Congratulations mon amour de la vie, we are the proud owners of a 2019 Mercedes ❤️” Menendez’s wife Nadine texted him when they received the car. “Mon amour de la vie” is French for “love of my life.”
This is a developing story, and we’ll have more for you as we learn more.
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