© Kevin R. Wexler / NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK
(New York, N.Y.) – New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez has been found guilty on all counts in his federal corruption trial. Prosecutors had alleged the longtime Democratic Senator accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash bribes and gold bars in return for political favors to help local businessmen secure deals with Egypt and Qatar, and in one case, to try to stop a criminal investigation.
Defense lawyers for Menendez rested their defense after calling just five witnesses in a trial that lasted two months. Menendez had denied any wrong-doing, claiming he knew nothing about the cash stash found in 2022 inside his wife’s locked closet at their shared home.
The jury deliberated for about 13 hours over three days.
Menendez refused to step down before the trial began, and in June, he announced he would run for re-election as an independent candidate.
