It’s the end of the line for Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey.
Politics :
After years of perceived corruption and racketeering, it only took a jury 3 days to find Sen. Bob Menendez guilty on all 16 counts brought against him. Â
Federal prosecutors in New York accused Menendez of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in exchange for the senator’s political clout. Three New Jersey businessmen and the governments of Egypt and Qatar were deemed to be the beneficiaries while co-defendants Wael Hana and Fred Daibes were also convicted on all counts they faced.
Following the guilty verdict, US Attorney Damian Williams (whose office prosecuted the case) said this “has always been about shocking levels of corruption” and the “hundreds of thousands of dollars of bribes” that he accepted.
“This wasn’t politics as usual; this was politics for profit,” Williams continued. “Because Sen. Menendez has now been found guilty, his years of selling his office to the highest bidder have finally come to an end. Corruption isn’t costless: it erodes public trust, and it undermines the rule of law. That’s why we’re so committed to fighting it, regardless of political party.”
The 70-year-old Menendez has always asserted his innocence despite prosecutors’ claims that he “put his power up for sale” in exchange for gold bars, envelopes stuffed with nearly half a million dollars in cash, checks to his wife for a no-show job, and a Mercedes-Benz convertible that authorities found at his home.
“I have never violated my oath,” the convicted politician said on Tuesday. “I have never been anything but a patriot of my country and for my country. I have never, ever been a foreign agent.”
However, not everyone — including his own Democratic colleagues — intends to stand by him.
According to ABC News, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has called on Sen. Bob Menendez to resign immediately.
“In light of this guilty verdict, Sen. Menendez must now do what is right for his constituents, the Senate, and our country, and resign,” Schumer said.
Sen. Cory Booker, Menendez’s New Jersey counterpart, as well as New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, have also called for his immediate resignation. However, Gov. Murphy took it a step further with a vow that if the senator refused to step down, he would ask the US Senate to expel him.
The Senate Ethics Committee said it will “promptly” complete the investigation into Menendez’s conduct that it undertook when the allegations against him initially surfaced. The committee added that it will consider the “full range of disciplinary actions available under the Rules of Procedure,” which include expulsion and censure.
Sen. Bob Menendez will be sentenced on October 29th and is expected to spend the rest of his life in prison.
OK WASSUP! discusses Politics:
Sen. Bob Menendez is guilty on all counts.
Given the strength of the prosecutor’s case from the beginning….
This verdict was a “No-brainer” to anyone who paid even the slightest bit of attention to this case.
The refusal of Sen Menendez and his wife’s to simply plead guilty and try to strike a plea deal can only be chocked up to unbridled Arrogance, Hubris, Stupidity combined with Delusions..smh!