A jury convicted Senator Bob Menendez on all bribery and corruption charges.
AP reported:
U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez has been convicted of accepting bribes of cash, gold and a luxury car from three New Jersey businessmen.
The jury’s verdict was still being read Tuesday at a federal courthouse in New York City.
Over a nine-week trial, prosecutors said the New Jersey 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 U.S. military aid.
In March Bob Menendez and his wife Nadine Menendez were charged with obstruction of justice in an 18-count indictment.
The new charges are related to a bribery scheme that involves Egypt and Qatar.
In January Menendez was hit with a second superseding indictment for praising Qatar in exchange for luxury watches.
“Menendez provided Daibes with these statements so that Daibes could share them with the Qatari Investor and a Qatari government official associated with the Qatari Investment Company,” the indictment said, according to NBC News.
In October Bob Menendez was charged with acting as a foreign agent in a superseding indictment.
The indictment filed by a federal grand jury in Manhattan claims Menendez “provided sensitive U.S. Government information and took other steps that secretly aided the Government of Egypt.”
Nadine Menendez was given a “no-show” or “low-show” job, a Mercedes Benz and other things of value, Damian Williams said.
Special agents discovered $500,000 of cash stuffed into envelopes in closets. “Some of the cash was stuffed in the Senator’s jacket pockets. Some of the envelopes of cash contained Daibes’ fingerprints and Daibes’ DNA,” Williams said at a press conference last month.
evidence photos show cash, Mercedes and gold bars
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