Former New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez was sentenced on Wednesday to 11 years in prison after being convicted on bribery and corruption charges. In July, a jury found Menendez guilty on 16 counts of accepting bribes—including gold bars, cash, and a Mercedes-Benz—in exchange for assisting foreign governments.
Nevertheless, we should not forget Menendez’s loyalty to Israel, which drove him to challenge President Barack Obama.
On August 18, 2015, Menendez expressed his opposition to the nuclear deal with Iran, stating, “President Obama continues to erroneously say that this agreement permanently stops Iran from having a nuclear bomb. Let’s be clear: what the agreement does is recommit Iran not to pursue a nuclear bomb, a promise they have already violated in the past.”
In March 2017, Menendez co-sponsored the Israel Anti-Boycott Act (S.270), which made it a federal crime for Americans to encourage or participate in boycotts against Israel and Israeli settlements in Judea and Samaria. The bill proposed a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for such actions.
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COURTROOM DRAMA
Before receiving his sentence, Menendez broke down in tears while addressing the courtroom. “Other than family, I have lost everything I ever cared about,” he said. “Every day I’m awake is a punishment.”
He then pleaded with the judge “to temper your sword of justice with the mercy of a lifetime of duty.”
“You were successful, powerful,” Judge Sidney H. Stein of the Federal District Court said before delivering the sentence. “You stood at the apex of our political system.”
“Somewhere along the way—I don’t know where—you lost your way,” the judge continued. “Working for the public good became working for your good.”
Stein then handed down one of the longest sentences ever given to a federal official in the United States.
When he was indicted, Menendez was serving as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, one of the most influential positions in Washington. It granted him significant power over foreign military aid and international policy. Prosecutors called his actions “the most serious for which a US senator has been convicted in the history of the republic.”
WILL TRUMP HELP?
After his sentencing, the former Senator told reporters, “Let me just say this – this whole process has been nothing but a political witch hunt.”
“President Trump is right,” he added. “This process is political and it’s corrupted to the core. I hope President Trump cleans up the cesspool and restores the integrity of the system.”
According to NBC News, citing Menendez’s allies, the former senator reached out many times to President Joe Biden to consider pardoning him. After getting the sense that Biden was unlikely to grant a pardon, Menendez shifted his focus to President-elect Donald Trump.
Menendez told his allies before the November election that he believed he might have a better chance of obtaining clemency from Trump. In recent weeks, he discussed with his inner circle whether he might have more success with Trump if he pursued a sentence commutation instead of a full pardon.
