Former US Sen. Bob Menendez Gets 11 Years For Federal Bribery, Floats Pardon Hopes To President Trump
Written by djfrosty on January 30, 2025
Former New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez was the target of an ethics complaint in 2006 by Republican Party opponents which opened the door to significant charges of corruption that ended the senator’s political career. This week, Bob Menendez was sentenced to 11 years behind bars floated an idea of seeking a potential pardon from President Donald Trump despite being a member of the Democratic Party.
As seen on CNN, Bob Menendez was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein in a Manhattan federal court on Wednesday (Jan. 29).
At root, Menendez was convicted in 2024 on bribery and corruption charges, which included taking over six figures in gold bars, cash, and a Mercedes-Benz convertible from Egyptian government officials and three businessmen in exchange for political favors.
Menendez was once a darling of the Democratic Party and was chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee at the height of his political career. However, the conviction on 16 felony counts has given the former senator the unwelcomed distinction of being the first United States senator to be charged and convicted of acting as an agent to aid a foreign government.
In court, Menendez made an emotional statement toward Judge Stein.
“You have before you a chastened man,” Menendez said. “Other than family, I have lost everything I ever cared about. For someone who spent his entire life in public service, every day I’m awake is a punishment.”
Menendez’s tune changed outside the courtroom when he spoke to a gathering of media.
“Only in the Southern District of New York would prosecutors allow a witness to walk away from over 10 criminal charges, including defrauding the United States government so that they can get him to lie on the stand. Welcome to the Southern District of New York, the wild west of political prosecutions,” Menendez said.
He added, “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.”
As noted at the top of the story, Menendez’s history of questionable political operations dates back to the late 1990s, and he was later indicted in 2015 on bribery, fraud, and false statement charges in connection to boosting the business interests of a Florida doctor with ties to the Dominican Republic in what would’ve benefited the doctor’s practice.
President Trump has not responded to Bob Menendez’s statement outside the court.
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Photo: Getty