Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) was found guilty on all counts on charges of accepting bribes, including cash and gold bars, while acting as a foreign agent to help Egypt and Qatar.
Menendez was quiet as the verdict was read and shook his head in disagreement as the jury was polled. He’ll be sentenced Oct. 29.
Speaking outside the courthouse, Menendez said he was “deeply, deeply disappointed by the jury’s decision”.
“I have never violated my public oath,” he said.
16 counts, including bribery, extortion, acting as a foreign agent, obstruction of justice and several counts of conspiracy. He had pleaded not guilty in the case, as did his wife, whose trial was delayed after she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Prosecutors say three businessmen paid bribes to Menendez and his wife in exchange for the senator taking actions to benefit them and the governments of Qatar and Egypt. Those bribes included gold bars, a Mercedes-Benz given to Nadine Menendez and more than $480,000 in cash, which the FBI found stuffed into closets, jackets bearing Menendez’s name when they searched his New Jersey home in 2022.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) called on Menendez to resign after the jury’s decision.
“In light of this guilty verdict, Senator Menendez must now do what is right for his constituents, the Senate, and our country, and resign,” said Schumer.
Rep. Andy Kim the verdict was “a sad and somber day for New Jersey and our country.”
“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. The people of New Jersey deserve better,” Kim said.
Menendez served 13 years in the House and was elected to the Senate in 2006, eventually becoming the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
