Bob Menendez Found Guilty Thanks to All Those Shady Gold Bars
New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez was found guilty on all counts Tuesday in a sprawling, nine-week trial that charged the 70-year-old Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman for accepting envelopes of cash and gold bars as bribes while acting as a middle man between local real estate moguls and foreign governments.
The New Jersey Democrat and his wife were accused last year of acting as foreign agents for Egypt, taking hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of flashy gifts in exchange for Menendez’s “power and influence to protect and enrich” the businessmen and government of Egypt.
In a superseding indictment filed in January, Menendez was also accused of other corruption-related charges, including allegedly taking bribes from Qatar in an attempt to help a New Jersey real estate developer secure a multimillion-dollar investment from a company tied to the Middle Eastern country and collecting lavish gifts in exchange for his handiwork.
Evidence in the trial included a set of gold bars stamped with the name “Menendez,” with serial numbers matching those reportedly owned by one of the senator’s alleged bribers, New Jersey real estate tycoon Fred Daibes.
Menendez had appeared hopeful Monday before the verdict was delivered.
“It’s obvious that the government’s case is not as simple as they made it to be,” Menendez told the Associated Press from outside the courthouse. “It’s not as simple as they made it to be. The jury’s finding that out.”
Menendez had refused to resign from the race for his Senate seat, but left the door open to run for re-election as an independent candidate. Tuesday’s verdict potentially pulls the plug on any future chances Menendez has at winning re-election in November.
But the convicted lawmaker’s opponents weren’t celebrating the news.
“This is a sad and somber day for New Jersey and our country,” wrote Representative Andy Kim, the Democratic candidate running for Menendez’s seat, in a statement. “Our public servants should work for the people, and today we saw the people judge Senator Menendez as guilty and unfit to serve.”
“I called on Senator Menendez to step down when these charges were first made public, and now that he has been found guilty, I believe the only course of action for him is to resign his seat immediately,” Kim continued. “The people of New Jersey deserve better.”
This story has been updated.