Jurors reached a verdict in Sen. Bob Menendez’s corruption trial on Tuesday, finding the 18-year Senate veteran guilty on all counts.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, Menendez (D-NJ) and his wife were indicted by a grand jury on federal bribery charges that included allegations of nearly $500,000 in hidden cash and shady deals involving the Egyptian government.
The indictment alleged that Menendez gave sensitive information to the Egyptian government. He purportedly ghost-wrote a letter on behalf of Egypt that advocated lifting a hold on $300 million in aid to the country. He also lobbied then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to resume negotiations with Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan to but a dam over the Nile River.
Federal officials investigated whether the couple accepted gifts from a New Jersey business called IS EG Halal. The alleged gifts included the use of a Mercedes and a luxury apartment in Washington, D.C. The company was later given a contract with Egypt to become the sole Halal meat inspector in the nation despite having no experience in that area of work.
Here’s some of what Fox News reported on the guilty verdict:
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.
“Prosecutors have not come close to meeting their burden to show you that any of the gold or cash was given to Senator Menendez as a bribe,” Menendez’s defense attorney, Adam Fee, said in his closing statements, which began concluded last Wednesday.
“The absence of evidence should be held against the prosecution,” he said.
He added the prosecution’s evidence “is overwhelmingly clear that this story is shaky and rotten to its core.”