From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, July 16, 2024
US Senator Menendez convicted at corruption trial, cementing political downfall
US Senator Bob Menendez is convicted on all 16 criminal counts he faced including bribery at his corruption trial, completing the once-powerful New Jersey Democrat’s dramatic downfall.
The jury in Manhattan federal court deliberated for more than 12 hours over three days before reaching a verdict in a trial that had taken nine weeks. Menendez, 70, had pleaded not guilty to the charges, which also included acting as a foreign agent and obstructing justice.
US District Judge Sidney Stein sets Menendez’s sentencing for Oct. 29, a week before the Nov. 5 election in which he is running as an independent in a bid for another six-year term in the Senate, but is considered a long shot to win.
After the jury’s foreperson read the verdict, Menendez rested his elbows on the table, clasped his hands together, and stared straight ahead.
Shortly after the conviction, US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, calls on Menendez to resign.
The trial centered on what federal prosecutors called several overlapping bribery schemes in which the senator and his wife Nadine Menendez accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, gold bars and car and mortgage payments from three businessmen who wanted his help.
In exchange for bribes, Menendez helped steer billions of dollars in American aid to Egypt, where one of the businessman, Wael Hana, had ties to government officials, according to prosecutors. Menendez also was accused of seeking to influence criminal probes involving two other businessmen, Fred Daibes and Jose Uribe.
Hana and Daibes were co-defendants in the senator’s trial and were also convicted on each of the counts they faced. Uribe pleaded guilty and testified as a prosecution witness against Menendez.
