Robert Menendez

Robert Menendez served as a U.S. Senator from New Jersey from 2006 until his resignation in August 2024. His career was marked by two major federal corruption indictments. In 2015, Menendez was indicted on bribery, fraud, and conspiracy charges related to his relationship with ophthalmologist Salomon Melgen. That trial ended in a mistrial in 2017 due to a hung jury, and the Justice Department subsequently dropped the charges. In 2018, the Senate Ethics Committee admonished him for violating Senate rules by accepting and failing to disclose impermissible gifts from Melgen. In 2023, Menendez was indicted on charges of bribery, extortion, acting as a foreign agent, and obstruction of justice, accused of accepting bribes—including cash, gold bars, and a luxury vehicle—from three businessmen to benefit the governments of Egypt and Qatar. On July 16, 2024, a jury convicted him on all 16 criminal counts. He resigned from the Senate on August 20, 2024, and was sentenced to 11 years in prison in January 2025.