The United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Danielle R. Sassoon, announced on January 29, 2025, that U.S. Senator Robert Menendez was sentenced to 11 years in prison for a string of charges related to a massive corruption bust. The former senator was charged with bribery, acting as a foreign agent, and obstruction of justice.
According to social media users, Menedez is trying to secure a pardon from President Trump. However, the disgraced senator has clashed with Trump on multiple occasions. Ironically, Menedez has called Trump dishonest in several statements. However, after the sentencing, he admitted that Trump was right.
An account on X, with over 600,000 followers, announced the news on January 29, 2025. They said, “BREAKING: Former Democrat Senator Bob Menendez just got sentenced to 11 years in prison for accepting bribes. The judge told him: “Somewhere along the way, you became, I’m sorry to say, a corrupt politician.” Menendez is hoping to score a pardon from President Trump. Bob Menendez voted to impeach President Trump TWICE & also called him a “liar & fraud.” Now, he’s lobbying to get a pardon. He should rot in prison.”
Danielle R. Sassoon explained why Menedez’s crime was so severe. She said, “The sentences imposed today result from an egregious abuse of power at the highest levels of the Legislative Branch of the federal government. Robert Menendez was trusted to represent the United States and the State of New Jersey, but instead he used his position to help his co-conspirators and a foreign government, in exchange for bribes like cash, gold, and a luxury car. The sentences imposed today send a clear message that attempts at any level of government to corrupt the nation’s foreign policy and the rule of law will be met with just punishment,”
A document from the Department of Justice offers insight into the case. It reads, “Shortly after MENENDEZ began dating his now-wife Nadine Menendez, then known as Nadine Arslanian (“Nadine Menendez”), in 2018, Nadine introduced MENENDEZ to her long-time friend HANA, who is originally from Egypt. HANA lived in New Jersey, and maintained close connections with Egyptian officials,”
The release explains that “Between 2018 and 2022, MENENDEZ and Nadine Menendez agreed to and did accept hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of bribes. “These bribes included gold, cash, a luxury convertible, payments toward Nadine Menendez’s home mortgage, compensation for a low-or-no-show job for Nadine Menendez, home furnishings, and other things of value. ”
The FBI launched a massive raid on their home, which revealed the scale of the corruption. “In June 2022, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”) executed a court-authorized search warrant at the New Jersey home of MENENDEZ and Nadine Menendez,” the Press Release stated. ” During that search, the FBI found many of the fruits of this bribery scheme. Over $480,000 in cash — much of it stuffed into envelopes and hidden in clothing, closets, and a safe — was discovered in the home.”
