Former New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez was anything but contrite after being sentenced to 11 years in prison on federal corruption charges Wednesday.
The 71-year-old called the case, in which he was found guilty of taking hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of bribes while serving in the Senate, a "political witch hunt." Standing outside the U.S. District Court building in Manhattan, Menendez announced his plans to appeal his case and called upon an unlikely ally.
"President [Donald] Trump was right. This process is political, and it’s corrupted to the core," he said. I hope President Trump cleans up the cesspool and restores the integrity to the system."
Bob Menendez after sentenced to 11 years, via Inner City Press https://t.co/fwfo751GZQ
— Inner City Press (@innercitypress) January 29, 2025
Prosecutors successfully argued that Menendez took bribes that included cash payments and gold bars in exchange for peddling influence on behalf of Egypt and Qatar. Last year, Menendez was found guilty on 16 counts that included bribery and acting as a foreign agent. NBC News reported that Menendez has been seeking a pardon from President Trump behind closed doors.
Menendez's case took place in a familiar venue for Trump. It was there the president was found liable for sexual abuse and defamation of the writer E. Jean Carroll, with two judgments handed down by U.S. District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan totaling more than $88 million in damages. Trump went on a pardoning spree in his first week in office that included clemency for 1,500 accused Jan. 6 rioters. Still, he's given no indication he might want to stick his short thumb in the court's eye.
