Danielle R. Sassoon, The United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced on January 29, 2025, that U.S. Senator Robert Menendez had been 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.

Before his conviction, the Democratic senator unsuccessfully tried to blame his wife for the graft that ended his political career. His defense attempted to argue that the senator was under the impression that his corrupt dealings were entirely legal. His defense also attempted to claim that the message between Menedez and his wife were ‘privileged’ and could not be used as evidence.

A motion filed before the trial explained this strategy. It read, “At trial, as part of his defense, Senator Menendez may elect to testify to communications with his wife that serve to materially decrease any inference of culpability on Senator Menendez’s part. Senator Menendez will explain, for example, what he and his wife discussed contemporaneously with their dinners with Egyptian officials (which colored his understanding of the purpose of such dinners).”

The document said that these communications would implicate his wife and exonerate the disgraced senator. It read, “the explanations that Nadine provided for why [co-defendants Wael Hanna and Jose Uribe] had provided her certain monetary items; the reasons why he sent his wife a series of questions that other Senators purportedly intended to ask an Egyptian official; and many more topics.”

His lawyers claim that he would be proven innocent, “by demonstrating the absence of any improper intent on Senator Menendez’s part. They may inculpate Nadine by demonstrating the ways in which she withheld information from Senator Menendez or otherwise led him to believe that nothing unlawful was taking place.” 

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. ”

Danielle R. Sassoon explained why Menedez’s crime was so serious. 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,”

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.”

FBI agents found evidence of corruption almost immediately, “Agents also found home furnishings provided [Egyptian foreign agents], the luxury vehicle paid for by Uribe parked in the garage, as well as over one hundred thousand dollars’ worth of gold bars in the home,” the DOJ wrote. Menendez was also convicted of obstruction of justice, related to an attempted coverup of his crimes.

“In or about 2022, following service of subpoenas issued by a federal grand jury sitting in the Southern District of New York on MENENDEZ, Nadine Menendez, Uribe, and IS EG Halal, Nadine Menendez met with Uribe,” the press release said. ” At that meeting, Nadine Menendez and Uribe agreed that if law enforcement asked about the payments Uribe had made for the Mercedes-Benz convertible, they would falsely say those payments had been a loan.”