Democratic Senator Bob Menendez has been found guilty on all 16 charges in his federal corruption trial.
The jury in the federal corruption trial of Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., and two of his business associates, Fred Daibes and Wael Hana, found Menendez guilty on all charges after a grueling nine-week complex trial in Manhattan.
Menendez pleaded not guilty to federal charges that he accepted an array of bribes in exchange for helping foreign governments. Jurors deliberated for three days. The conviction on all 16 counts against him exposes Menendez to a sentence of up to 200 years in prison, though such a heavy sentence is unlikely.
The judge scheduled the senator's sentencing date for October 29.
Menendez was charged last September after authorities reportedly found gold bars and dirty money at his home.
During the trial, prosecutors used cited emails and text messages from Menendez - as well as FBI testimony - to present evidence they argued shows the senator accepted extravagant gifts from foreign governments. The gifts totaled more than $100,000 worth of gold bars, in addition to hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash stuffed throughout Menendez's New Jersey home.
Menendez was charged by federal prosecutors with 18 counts since he pleaded innocent last year, all relating to a multiyear alleged bribery scheme involving the Egypt and Qatar governments.
In March, an 18-page indictment was wrapped into Menendez's existing charges already against him and his co-defendants — including his wife, Nadine — for allegedly acting as a foreign agent and accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes to benefit the Egyptian government through his power and influence as a senator.
Don't forget, this guy was the chair of the Foreign Relations Committee, so we now know he was essentially working as a foreign agent while holding this Senate position.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called on Menendez to resign from the Senate after the verdict:
In light of this guilty verdict, Senator Menendez must now do what is right for his constituents, the Senate, and our country, and resign.
And here I thought the Republicans were supposed to be the foreign agents!
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