Sen. Menendez found guilty on all counts in federal corruption trial

New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez has been found guilty on all 18 counts in his federal corruption trial, including charges of bribery and conspiracy for a public official to act as a foreign agent, a jury decided Tuesday at a Manhattan courthouse.

Menendez was found guilty on the following counts:

• COUNT ONE: Conspiracy to Commit Bribery
• COUNT TWO: Conspiracy to Commit Honest Services Wire Fraud
• COUNT THREE: Conspiracy to Commit Extortion Under Color of Official Right
• COUNT FOUR: Conspiracy to Commit Obstruction of Justice 
• COUNT FIVE: Bribery – Actions to Benefit Wael Hana and Egypt 
• COUNT SIX: Bribery – Actions to Benefit Wael Hana and Egypt 
• COUNT SEVEN: Honest Services Wire Fraud – Actions to Benefit Wael Hana and Egypt 
• COUNT EIGHT: Extortion Under Color of Official Right – Actions to Benefit Wael Hana and Egypt 
• COUNT NINE: Honest Services Wire Fraud – Actions to Benefit Jose Uribe and Uribe’s Associates 
• COUNT TEN: Extortion Under Color of Official Right – Actions to Benefit Jose Uribe and Uribe’s Associates
• COUNT ELEVEN: Bribery – Actions to Benefit Fred Daibes and Qatar
• COUNT TWELVE: Bribery – Actions to Benefit Fred Daibes and Qatar 
• COUNT THIRTEEN: Honest Services Wire Fraud – Actions to Benefit Fred Daibes and Qatar
• COUNT FOURTEEN: Extortion Under Color of Official Right – Actions to Benefit Fred Daibes and Qatar 
• COUNT FIFTEEN: Conspiracy For a Public Official to Act as a Foreign Agent 
• COUNT SIXTEEN: Public Official Acting as a Foreign Agent 
• COUNT SEVENTEEN: Conspiracy to Commit Obstruction of Justice 
• COUNT EIGHTEEN: Obstruction of Justice 

Menendez’s co-defendants, Wael Hana and Fred Daibes, were also found guilty on all counts they were charged with in the trial. All three pleaded not guilty. Another businessman pleaded guilty before trial and testified against Menendez and the other defendants.

The jury began deliberating last Thursday.

The jury’s verdict followed a nine-week trial in which prosecutors said the Democrat abused the power of his office to protect allies from criminal investigations and enrich associates, including his wife, through acts that included meeting with Egyptian intelligence officials and helping that country access millions of dollars in U.S. military aid.

Menendez, 70, did not testify. He insisted publicly he was only doing his job as the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He said the gold bars found in his New Jersey home by the FBI belonged to his wife.

At closings on Wednesday, Menendez’s lawyer cited patriotism as a reason to acquit his client, telling a federal jury that it would be a “win for this country” if it rejects the government’s bribery case against the Democrat.

“This case, it dies here today,” attorney Adam Fee told the Manhattan federal court jury as it heard closing arguments for a third day.

When Fee finished his closing, Menendez shook his hand. As Menendez left the courthouse, the senator told reporters: “We have stripped away the government’s false narratives and exposed their lies.”

Fee said the government had failed to prove “that Bob’s actions were anything other than what we want our elected officials to do.”

“He was doing his job. He was doing it well,” Fee added.

The attorney warned jurors to resist the temptation to embrace the government’s “salacious story about a corrupt politician, because it’s not there.”

Then, as he finished his argument, he made an acquittal sound patriotic, telling the jury “the United States wins when thin cases brought by overzealous prosecutors are rejected.”

“That,” Fee added, “will be a win for this country.”

Menendez, 70, had pleaded not guilty to charges that he accepted gold bars and hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash from 2018 to 2022 from three New Jersey businessmen and agreed to take official actions that would benefit their interests, including financially.

The New Jersey senator is on trial with two businessmen, Fred Daibes and Wael Hana, who also have pleaded not guilty. Daibes is a prominent New Jersey real estate developer while Hana obtained a monopoly to certify that meat exported to Egypt complied with Islamic rules.

A third businessman, Jose Uribe, pleaded guilty and testified against the others during the trial. A trial for the senator’s wife, Nadine Menendez, 57, has been postponed while she recovers from breast cancer surgery. She also has pleaded not guilty in the bribery case.