U.S. Senator Bob Menendez has been convicted in a federal courthouse in New York City of accepting bribes from businessmen, including cash, gold, and a luxury car.
Menendez was accused of abusing the power of his office to protect allies from criminal investigations and enrich associations, including his wife.
Driving the news: Menendez did not testify during the nine-week trial, insisting publicly he was only doing his job as the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and that the gold bars found in his New Jersey home belonged to his wife.
- The conviction comes just four months before Election Day and potentially jeopardizes Menendez’s hopes of campaigning for reelection as an independent candidate.
- Menendez’s wife, Nadine, was also charged; however, her trial has been postponed while she recovers from breast cancer surgery.
The big picture: During closing arguments, prosecutors cited numerous instances when they said Menendez helped the businessmen, and they argued that his acts to benefit them, such as speeding $99 million in helicopter ammunition to Egypt, showed he was serving Egypt’s interests as an agent.
- Menendez’s lawyers insisted the senator did not accept bribes and that his actions were those expected of a public official.
- They said he was merely carrying out foreign responsibilities expected in his role as Senate Foreign Relations chairman, a post he was forced to relinquish after the charges were brought.
- The trial featured tales of bribes paid in cash, gold, and a car, and the FBI confiscated gold bars worth nearly $150,000 and cash over $480,000 in a 2022 raid on Menendez’s New Jersey home where he lived with his wife.
