Sen. Bob Menendez found guilty on all counts, including acting as foreign agent, in federal corruption trial
Federal prosecutors alleged that Sen. Bob Menendez accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in exchange for the New Jersey Democrat's political clout.
Menendez was charged with 16 federal counts.
Sen. Bob Menendez was found guilty on all counts Tuesday in his federal corruption trial.
Federal prosecutors in New York alleged the New Jersey Democrat accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in the form of cash, gold bars, mortgage payments and more in exchange for the senator's political clout. Three New Jersey businessmen who were also charged, along with the governments of Egypt and Qatar, were the alleged recipients. Two of those co-defendants, Wael Hanna and Fred Daibes, were also convicted of all counts they faced.
Prosecutors claimed Menendez, 70, "put his power up for sale" in exchange for the gold, envelopes stuffed with money, checks to his wife for a no-show job and a Mercedes-Benz convertible. The FBI found gold bars and more than $400,000 in cash stashed in places including jackets and shoes throughout his home, prosecutors said.
The defense, meanwhile, maintained that all of the actions in the indictment fell within the scope of Menendez's position and that prosecutors failed to prove he took any bribes.
During his closing argument, defense attorney Adam Fee mocked the government's case as "cherry-picked nonsense" and accused prosecutors of "fudging" the facts.
