New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez has been found guilty on all 16 charges, including bribery and corruption, for his involvement in a years-long bribery scheme in which he wielded his political influence to help officials in the Egyptian government.
After a nine-long week trial, a jury of 12 in New York agreed with federal prosecutors that Menendez, 70, knowingly took bribes in the form of gold bars, cash, car payments, jewelry and more from two New Jersey businessmen and foreign leaders in exchange for his backing.
That support, the prosecution argued, ultimately helped the US release millions of dollars in military aid to Egypt, supported a New Jersey businessman’s monopoly on a halal-certifying meat company, introduced a New Jersey real estate developer to members of the Qatari royal family for investment purposes and attempted to interfere with two New Jersey criminal cases.
Jurors deliberated for approximately 12 hours across three days before returning the verdict on Tuesday.
His wife, Nadine Menendez, became a pivotal player throughout the trial – though Judge Sidney Stein severed her trial from her husband’s after it was revealed she is currently battling breast cancer.
Her trial is indefinitely delayed for the time being.
Menendez, who once chaired the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was charged with 16 counts including bribery, extortion, corruption, and acting as a foreign agent as a public official and more in September. He pleaded not guilty to all charges.
He is the first senator ever to be charged under the acting as a foreign agent statute.
Menendez, a three-term Democratic senator, was thrown into yet another bribery scheme last year when prosecutors unveiled the bombshell indictment against him and his wife.
The indictment included photos of cash bribes stuffed into the pockets and shoes of the Menendez’s personal clothing, a Mercedes-Benz convertible parked in the driveway of their home and expensive jewelry stowed in boxes.
Much of Menendez’s defense rested on blaming his wife for serving as the go-between for the senator, New Jersey businessmen and foreign officials. His attorneys argued that Nadine harbored many of the bribes in her personal locked closet and did not inform her husband of them.
This is the second time Menendez has been prosecuted in a bribery-related scheme. The first one, which took place in 2015, ended in a mistrial.
Fred Daibes, the real estate developer, was found guilty on seven counts he was indicted with, including honest services wire fraud, conspiracy to commit obstruction of justice and more.
Prosecutors said Daibes gave Menendez gold and cash in exchange for interfering with a criminal investigation and securing investors in an Edgewater, New Jersey, development project. Daibes had pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Wael Hana, an Egyptian-born American businessman, was also found guilty on six counts that he was indicted with, including bribery, honest services wire fraud and conspiring for a public official to act as a foreign agent.
Throughout the trial, prosecutors argued Hana gave Menendez gold bars, cash and more in order to secure a lucrative deal with Egyptian officials for his halal meat-certifying company.
Hana then used his company to funnel bribes to Menendez and his wife.
Judge Stein set a sentencing date for October 29.
Though Menendez does not have to resign, the verdict will likely add pressure on him to step down.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called on Menendez to resign moments after the guilty verdict came down.
“In light of this guilty verdict, Senator Menendez must now do what is right for his constituents, the Senate, and our country, and resign,” Schumer said.
Noah Bookbinder, the president of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) said in a statement, “After years of ducking accountability for corruption, Sen. Bob Menendez has finally been convicted by a jury of his peers. There is no room in the Senate for a convicted felon, especially not one convicted of taking bribes. He must resign today or be immediately expelled.”
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