A federal jury in Manhattan on Tuesday found Sen. Robert Menendez guilty of using his political influence as a powerful member of Congress to benefit New Jersey businessmen as well as the governments of Egypt and Qatar in return for hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes, including gold bars.
Menendez, a powerful Democrat from New Jersey who chaired the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was convicted on all 16 counts, including bribery, obstruction of justice, acting as a foreign agent and honest services wire fraud.
“This case has always been about shocking levels of corruption—hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in the form of cash, gold bars, a Mercedes Benz. This wasn’t politics as usual. This was politics for profit,” U.S. Attorney Damien Williams said outside the courthouse. “Now that a jury has convicted Bob Menendez, his years of selling his office to the highest bidder have finally come to an end.”
Immediately after the verdict was announced, the top Democrat in Senate, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, called on Menendez to step aside: “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 in a statement.
Menendez stepped down as head of the foreign relations panel after his indictment, but stayed in the U.S. Senate and is still running for reelection in November — as an independent.
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