US Senator found guilty of taking bribes, acting as foreign agent

U.S. Senator Bob Menendez was convicted on Tuesday on all 16 criminal counts he faced including bribery at his corruption trial in Manhattan federal court, completing the once-powerful New Jersey Democrat's dramatic downfall.Menendez, who headed the powerful US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has been convicted of acting as a "foreign agent" for Egypt, and of a slew of corruption charges. Menendez has served in the Senate since 2006 and avoided conviction in a prior 2017 corruption trial due to a deadlocked jury.
Meanwhile, senior Democrats including U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and fellow New Jersey Senator Cory Booker called on Menendez to resign from the chamber.Jurors began their deliberations on Friday and met for more than 12 hours over three days before reaching their verdict in a trial that had taken nine weeks. Menendez, 70, had pleaded not guilty to the charges, which also included illegally acting as an agent of the Egyptian government, obstruction of justice, wire fraud and extortion.
Menendez remained defiant after the verdict."I have never violated my public oath. I have never been anything but a patriot of my country and for my country," Menendez, who stepped down as chair of the influential U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee upon being charged, told reporters. "I have never, ever been a foreign agent." In exchange for bribes, Menendez helped steer billions of dollars in American aid to Egypt, where one of the businessman, Wael Hana, had ties to government officials, according to prosecutors. Menendez also was accused of seeking to influence criminal probes involving two other businessmen, Fred Daibes and Jose Uribe. "This was politics for profit," Damian Williams, the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, told reporters. "His years of selling his office to the highest bidder have finally come to an end."
U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein set Menendez's sentencing for Oct. 29, a week before the Nov. 5 election in which he is running as an independent in a bid for another six-year term in the Senate, but is considered a long shot to win.Tuesday's conviction handed a victory to the U.S. Justice Department as well as to Williams, who has made weeding out public corruption a priority.