(ABC News) Sen. Bob Menendez was found guilty on all counts Tuesday in his federal corruption trial.
Federal prosecutors in New York alleged the New Jersey Democrat accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in the form of cash, gold bars, mortgage payments and more in exchange for the senator’s political clout. Three New Jersey businessmen who were also charged, along with the governments of Egypt and Qatar, were the alleged recipients. Two of those co-defendants, Wael Hana and Fred Daibes, were also convicted of all counts they faced.
The jury deliberated for about 13 hours over three days.
‘I have never, ever been a foreign agent,’ Menendez says
Menendez pleaded not guilty to 16 federal charges including bribery, fraud, acting as a foreign agent and obstruction. He said he plans to appeal his conviction and is “deeply disappointed” by the jury’s decision.
“I have never violated my oath,” he said outside the courthouse Tuesday. “I have never been anything but a patriot of my country and for my country. I have never, ever been a foreign agent.”
He added that the jury’s decision would “put at risk every member of the United States Senate in terms of what they think a foreign agent would be.”
Menendez did not respond to questions on whether he will resign.
He will be sentenced on Oct. 29 and faces decades in prison.
Calls to resign
Menendez is not required to resign despite his conviction, though could be expelled.
Majority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called for his resignation immediately after the verdict.
“In light of this guilty verdict, Senator Menendez must now do what is right for his constituents, the Senate, and our country, and resign,” he said.
Sen. Cory Booker, Menendez’s New Jersey counterpart, and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy joined in the calls for his immediate resignation. If the senator refuses to vacate his office, Murphy said he will call on the U.S. Senate to expel him.
The Senate Ethics Committee said it will “promptly” complete the investigation into Menendez’s conduct that it undertook when the allegations against him first surfaced.
The committee said it will consider the “full range of disciplinary actions available under the Rules of Procedure,” which include expulsion and censure.
He is not required to resign despite his conviction, though could be expelled.
‘Shocking levels of corruption’
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams, whose office prosecuted the case, said following the verdict that this “has always been about shocking levels of corruption.”
