Crypto Critic Senator Menendez Found Drowning in Corruption: Bribes of Cash and Gold Exposed

U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ), who is known for being a staunch crypto critic, has met an ironic fate as he was found guilty by a jury on Tuesday for accepting bribes – including cash, gold bars, and a luxury car – in exchange for political favors. 

“Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey has been convicted in connection with a sweeping scheme to sell his office to foreign powers and crooked businessmen in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, a luxury car and bars of solid gold,” reported the New York Times. 

Last fall, U.S. prosecutors filed a litany of charges against the former chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Council, including bribery, extortion, and obstruction of justice.

It took the 12-member jury three days following the end of closing arguments to come to a verdict, convicting him on all 16 counts he faced. 

Menendez, whose term expires at the end of the year, is the first sitting member of Congress to be convicted of acting as a foreign agent and is only the seventh sitting U.S. senator to be convicted of a federal crime. He now awaits his October 29 sentencing date, where he faces the possibility of decades in prison. 

The former Union City, New Jersey mayor – who has been in Congress since 1993 and became a Senator in 2006 – has thus far refused to step down despite numerous calls from senior colleagues to resign. This includes a statement from Democratic Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer, who tweeted, “In light of this guilty verdict, Senator Menendez must now do what is right for his constituents, the Senate, and our country, and resign.”

“I am deeply, deeply disappointed by the jury’s decision,” Menedez said outside the Manhattan federal courthouse shortly after the verdict was read. “I have every faith that the law and the facts did not sustain that decision and that we will be successful upon appeal. I have never violated my public oath.”

While Menedez has long maintained his innocence, despite being found in possession of bags of cash and gold bars, he now faces an uphill battle in the appellate court as less than one percent of federal criminal defendants were acquitted in 2022.

“Moments ago, a jury convicted Senator Robert Menendez of corruption offenses,” said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams. “This case has always been about shocking levels of corruption.  Hundreds of thousands of dollars of bribes, including gold, cash, and a Mercedes-Benz. This wasn’t politics as usual; this was politics for profit.” 

“Because Senator Menendez has now been found guilty, his years of selling his office to the highest bidder have finally come to an end,” he added. “Corruption isn’t costless: it erodes public trust, and it undermines the rule of law. That’s why we’re so committed to fighting it, regardless of political party.”

Crypto proponents were quick to point out the irony of the situation as Menendez once said that Bitcoin (BTC) “is an ideal choice for criminals,” only to find himself on the wrong side of the law while choosing gold and cash as the preferred forms of payment for his own criminal schemes. 

The New Jersey Senator also co-sponsored the "Accountability for Cryptocurrency in El Salvador (ACES) Act” which would have required the State Department to report on mitigating risks to the U.S. financial system from El Salvador's adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender.

Stacy Herbert, a member of The National Bitcoin Office (ONBTC) of El Salvador under President Nayib Bukele, also commented on the situation, noting that while Senator Menendez was "hiding bars of ill-gotten gold... President Bukele was establishing the most transparent government in the world by posting El Salvador’s public Bitcoin address for all the world to audit.”

She added that the “malign actor was Bob Menendez” and that the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which Menendez chaired, “owes President Bukele and El Salvador an apology.”

This article originally appeared on Kitco News.