Former Sen. Bob Menendez will spend 11 years behind bars after being found guilty on 16 counts of bribery, conspiracy, extortion, and obstruction of justice, The Hill reported. The disgraced New Jersey Democrat also has the distinction of being the only U.S. senator to be convicted of acting as a foreign agent while in office.
Menendez was a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and used his position to dole out favors. He and his wife, Nadine Nadine Menendez, accepted kickbacks including gold bars, thousands of dollars in cash, and other luxury gifts in exchange for the senator's influence.
One of those favors included sharing state department secrets with Egyptian businessmen to be passed to the nation's officials. Others included protecting a monopoly on halal meat certification and intervening to shield two other businessmen from legal troubles.
A New York jury convicted Bob Menendez along with three New Jersey businessmen. Nadine Menendez will stand trial as well, but hers has been delayed several times due to her undergoing treatments for breast cancer.
Federal prosecutors recommended 15 years in prison for Bob Menendez due to his "extraordinary abuse of power and betrayal of the public trust" while in office. "The defendants’ crimes amount to an extraordinary attempt, at the highest levels of the legislative branch, to corrupt the nation’s core sovereign powers over foreign relations and law enforcement," the sentencing memorandum said.
The crimes normally carry up to 30 years in prison, but prosecutors factored in the 71-year-old's advanced age when making the recommendation. During sentencing, Bob Menendez tried to leverage his years as a politician for less time behind bars.
"You really don’t know the man you are about to sentence," he said to U.S. District Judge Sidney H. Stein in his plea for leniency. An attorney for Bob Menendez tried to say that the senator, who resigned in disgrace after being convicted, was punished enough by becoming a "national punchline" after being dubbed "gold bar Bob."
The judge was not swayed but rather chastised the former senator for his fall from grace. "You were successful; powerful. You stood at the apex of our political system," Stein told Bob Menendez.
"Somewhere along the way, and I don’t know when it was, you lost your way, and working for the public good became working for your good," the judge added. Rather than take responsibility, Bob Menendez said his was a "political prosecution."
Throughout his career, Bob Menendez has been no friend to Republicans and certainly not to President Donald Trump. However, he invoked his nemesis Wednesday following sentencing.
"President Trump was right. This process is political, and it’s corrupted to the core," Bob Menendez claimed, echoing Trump's objections to his actual political prosecutions.
"I hope President Trump cleans up the cesspool and restores the integrity to the system," he said. Bob Menendez has promised to appeal his conviction.
Some stunning remarks from Menendez outside court: “President Trump was right. This process is political, and it’s corrupted to the core. I hope President Trump cleans up the cesspool and restores the integrity to the system.” pic.twitter.com/woFgHgFGqM
— Molly Crane-Newman (@molcranenewman) January 29, 2025
Nothing is shocking about a New Jersey politician being a convicted criminal. However, what Bob Menendez did was worse than the garden variety corruption as it involved working for a foreign government in a roundabout way, and he deserves every day of his sentence.
