Sen. Bob Menendez was convicted on Tuesday of all the counts he faced at his
corruption trial, including accepting bribes of gold and cash from three New Jersey businessmen and acting as a foreign agent for the Egyptian government, per the
AP. The jury's verdict followed a nine-week trial in which prosecutors said the Democrat abused the power of his office to protect allies from criminal investigations and enrich associates, including his wife, through acts that included meeting with Egyptian intelligence officials and helping that country access millions of dollars in US military aid.
As the verdict was read in court, Menendez, 70, looked toward the jury at times as he appeared to mark a document in front of him. Afterward, he sat resting his chin against his closed hands, elbows on the table. Menendez did not testify at the trial, but insisted publicly he was only doing his job as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He said the gold bars found in his New Jersey home by the FBI belonged to his wife, Nadine Menendez. She too was charged but her trial was postponed so she could recover from breast cancer surgery. She has pleaded not guilty.
The verdict, delivered at a federal courthouse in Manhattan, comes four months before Election Day and potentially dooms Menendez's chances of campaigning for reelection as an independent candidate. Immediately after the verdict, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer in statement called on Menendez to resign. "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. (This story has been updated with new details.)
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