Former NJ Sen. Bob Menendez gets 11 years in gold bar bribe case – National & International News – WED 29Jan2025
Former NJ Sen. Bob Menendez gets 11 years in gold bar bribe case.
White House rescinds shambolic federal fund freeze.
Former NJ Sen. Bob Menendez gets 11 years in gold bar bribe case
A federal judge has sentenced former senator from New Jersey Bob Menendez to 11 years in prison following his 16-count conviction in July 2024. His convictions include bribery, fraud, extortion, conspiracy and acting as an unregistered foreign agent for the government of Egypt.
Menendez was a long-time member of the influential Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, serving twice as the chair. He was forced to resign as chair when first indicted in 2023. Along with his wife Nadine, Menendez was accused of accepting bribes in exchange for using his influence to secure US aid for Egypt and interfering in a criminal investigation on behalf of Egyptian nationals.
Menendez is the first person to have been convicted for acting as a foreign agent while in office as a US government official. He may soon have company as Texas Rep. Henry Cuellar was indicted last year for accepting bribes from an Azeri oil company and a Mexican bank in exchange for using his office to influence foreign policy. Both Menendez and Cuellar are Democrats.
“Gold Bar Bob”
An FBI raid of Menendez’s house uncovered a stash of gold bars and hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash apparently received as bribes. His wife also received a Mercedes-Benz from a grateful Egyptian businessman.
Since Menendez received a sentence exceeding 11 years, he is not eligible to be held in a minimum-security federal prison. In addition to seeking a pardon from President Trump, Menendez has also vowed to appeal. In a post on Twitter, Menendez characterized his prosecution as a “political witch hunt”. This echoes rhetoric used both by President Trump regarding his convictions and by President Biden regarding convictions against his son Hunter.
Click here for the full story (opens in new tab).
White House rescinds shambolic federal fund freeze
Yesterday, The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a memo ordering a freeze of payouts on all federal loans and grants. The memo stated that this freeze was necessary to evaluate what spending was or was not consistent with the Trump administration’s policy priorities. The administration is seeking to target any federal spending going towards diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.
The memo was leaked to the press and immediately caused confusion as to how it would affect programs that millions of Americans rely on for healthcare, childcare, rental assistance, food aid, and educational and business loans. Later in the day, a federal judge paused the directive from going into effect until at least February 3.
Today, the White House announced that it was withdrawing the memo. White House press Secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed that this was to “end any confusion created by the courts injunction” rather than to alleviate the chaos the memo had sparked.
Click here for the full story (opens in new tab).
