(New York) The actions of Senator Bob Menendez represent “a textbook example of corruption on a grand scale,” a federal prosecutor charged Tuesday in New York, as the elected official’s trial nears sentencing.
For this prosecutor, Paul Monteleoni, the case is simple: Mr. Menendez, 70 years old, traded his influence for large sums of cash, gold bars and even a sumptuous convertible car.
But the Democratic senator, who chaired the powerful Foreign Affairs Committee, denies it outright, even though his public career spanning four decades seems irretrievably sunk.
The 12 jurors, who will retire to deliberate once the senator’s lawyer has completed his argument, could sentence him to 20 years in prison.
Prosecuted since September with his wife and three alleged accomplices, Bob Menendez is the subject of around twenty charges, including corruption, influence peddling for the benefit of Egypt and Qatar, as well as acting as an agent of a foreign state.
The couple were initially accused of accepting “hundreds of thousands of dollars” in bribes between 2018 and 2022 in exchange for their influence to “protect and enrich” three businessmen from New Jersey, the state where he is elected, and to support the Egyptian government.