A court in Manhattan has found New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez guilty of bribing and acting as a foreign agent of the Egyptian government.
On Tuesday, Senator Menendez was found guilty of 16 criminal accounts relating to bribes and corruption. At a court in Manhattan Federal court, the 70-year-old politician was accused of receiving bribes in cash and gold from three New Jersey entrepreneurs.
US Court Convict Senator Bob Menendez for Bribery
Prosecutors said the Democrat abused the power of his office to protect allies from being convicted. Driven by his selfish interest, Menendez violated the law to enrich a few individuals through unlawful activities, including his wife, relatives, and friends.
The prosecutors noted that Menendez and his wife accepted cash, gold, cars, and mortgage payments from the three business people seeking help.
The prosecutor told the court that Menendez’s wife received $10,000 bribe monthly from Wael Hana to stop the US Agriculture Department from extending its enforcement action on the operation of Egyptian company Hana.
The Egyptian government granted the Hana company monopolistic power to facilitate exporting halal meat. The policymaker established strong relations with the Egyptian government officials through his friend Wael Hana to benefit from the African country.
The court report shows that Menendez assisted the Egyptians in receiving millions of dollars from US military aid. Having served in the Senate since 2006, Menendez has gained global recognition for representing the American interest. He joined the US political space in 1993 as a congressman.
However, the Senator’s career took a turn after being charged with corruption in September 2023. Depending on the case’s complexity, the bench of judges engaged in intense internal dialogue on the Menendez corruption trial.
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A source familiar with the situation confirmed that the judges engaged in 12-hour meetings for three days to determine the verdict on the Senator’s case. Guided by the existing law, the judges noted that Menendez engaged in wire fraud and extortion. Also the troubled senator acted as an Egyptian government official and severally escaped the rule of law.
The Senator was charged along with his wife, Fred Daibes, and Jose Uribe, who will face the criminal trials separately. The court postponed Menendez’s wife’s trial due to her health condition.
After court proceedings, the disgraced politician and the defense team vowed to appeal the case. Menendez told Reuters that he had never breached his public oath at any point. The Senator claimed to exercise his patriotism while serving the nation.
He declined to work as a foreign agent for the Egyptian government.
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The Senator told the Reuter that the gold bars confiscated by the law enforcer belonged to a sick wife. During the home raiding, the law enforcers found $480,000 cash at Menendez’s home. The court has scheduled Menendez’s sentencing on October 29.
The court ruling came months before the US election day when Menendez was vying for the New Jersey Senate seat. However, corruption trials against the Senator have doomed his re-election bid.
The Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, said Menendez should leave office, citing the court judgment. Schumer’s call for the resignation of Menendez was supported by New Jersey junior senator Corey Booker and house representative Andy Kim.
The New Jersey governor, Phil Murphy, urged the Senate to vote for the dismissal of Menendez if he fails to step down. Even though it’s still unclear whether Menendez will resign, it requires two-thirds of the majority to remove the Senator from office.
Menendez will become the first senator to be removed from office in the history of New Jersey. In a subsequent report, the federal prosecutor Damian Williams described Menendez’s politics as profit-motivated.
The prosecutor stated it was high time for the Senator to leave office. Elsewhere, the republican candidate Curtis Bashaw urged Menendez to step down from office since New Jersey deserved a better senator.
