New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez has been found guilty of bribery , corruption, extortion, and acting as a foreign agent for his involvement in a years-long scheme where he wielded his political influence to help the Egyptian government.
After a nine-week trial, the jury found that Menendez, 70, had knowingly taken bribes in the form of gold bars, cash, a Mercedes Benz, jewelry and more from two New Jersey businessmen and foreign leaders in exchange for his political favor.
Menendez’s backing, the prosecution argued, ultimately led to the US releasing millions of dollars in military aid to Egypt. It also supported a New Jersey businessman’s monopoly on a halal-certifying meat company; introduced a New Jersey real estate developer seeking investment to members of the Qatari royal family; and attempted to interfere with two criminal cases in the state.
Jurors in Manhattan deliberated for approximately 12 hours across three days before returning the verdict on Tuesday.
The senator’s wife, Nadine Menendez, was a pivotal player throughout the trial, although Judge Sidney Stein severed her upcoming case from her husband’s after it was revealed she is battling breast cancer. Her trial has been indefinitely delayed.
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 in September. He pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The Democrat is the first senator ever to be charged under the acting as a foreign agent statute.
Menendez said he planned to appeal the decision, claiming he has “never violated” his public oath.
“I have never been anything but a patriot of my country and for my country,” Menendez said in a statement to reporters after the verdict. “The decision rendered by the jury today would put at risk every member of the United States Senate in terms of what they think a foreign agent would be.
Menendez, a three-term senator, was thrown into yet another bribery scandal 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 Menendez’s personal clothing, a Mercedes-Benz convertible parked in the driveway of their home and expensive jewelry stowed in boxes.
Much of Bob Menendez’s defense rested on blaming his wife for serving as the go-between for the senator, the 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 that Menendez has been prosecuted in a bribery-related scheme. The first one, which took place in 2015, ended in a mistrial.
“This case has always been about shocking levels of corruption,” Attorney General for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams, said on Tuesday after the verdict was read. “This wasn’t politics as usual, this was politics for profit.”
Co-defendant Fred Daibes, a real estate developer, was found guilty on seven counts including honest services wire fraud and conspiracy to commit obstruction of justice.
Prosecutors said Daibes gave Menendez gold and cash in exchange for interfering with a criminal investigation and securing investors in an Edgewater development project. Daibes had pleaded not guilty to all charges.
When a reporter asked Daibes how he felt about the verdict on Tuesday, he responded, “Not good.”
Wael Hana, an Egyptian-born American businessman, was also found guilty on six counts 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.
Menendez is scheduled to be sentenced on October 29.
Though Menendez does not have to resign, the verdict will likely pile pressure on him to step down from Congress. 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.
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy reiterated his call for Menendez to resign “immediately”, asking the Senate to vote to expel him if he does not step down.
A joint statement from the Democratic and Republican chairs of the Senate Select Committee on Ethics said they plan to consider “a full range of disciplinary actions” under the Rules of Procedure against Menendez.
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