Latest news with #Menendez
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Former Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez is still pushing for a Trump pardon before reporting to prison
President Donald Trump has not ruled out pardoning or commuting the sentence of former Sen. Bob Menendez, though allies believe there is only a small chance that the New Jersey Democrat will receive clemency before he's scheduled to report to prison next month, according to a White House official and three additional people familiar with the discussions. Menendez allies have made multiple overtures to the White House since Trump took office to request either a pardon or a commutation of his 11-year prison sentence following his conviction on bribery and corruption charges, according to four people familiar with the efforts. After one such overture, some of Menendez's allies were convinced Trump will not grant the New Jersey Democrat clemency, people familiar with the efforts said. But a White House official says Trump has not made a decision on the matter. Earlier this year, Menendez appealed to Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a former Senate colleague and a Trump ally, to request a pardon or sentence commutation on his behalf, according to three people with direct knowledge of that effort. Graham and Menendez have long had a close relationship, with Graham standing by the Democrat during Menendez's first indictment a decade ago on federal corruption charges. But Graham has declined to get involved. Menendez has also tried to use his longtime connections to Jewish leaders in New York and New Jersey as a different avenue to get to Trump, according to two people familiar with those discussions. Menendez was a fierce advocate for Israel during his time in office and has attempted to leverage his ties to prominent Jewish groups and key stakeholders, as NBC News previously reported. Menendez had also reached out to the family of Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner for help securing a pardon, but he was rebuffed, according to one source familiar with the attempt. Menendez sought and failed to obtain clemency from President Joe Biden before he left office earlier this year. Menendez pleaded not guilty on federal bribery and corruption charges but was convicted in July and resigned from the Senate in August. Menendez's wife, Nadine Menendez, was convicted on similar charges in a separate trial. In attempt to appeal to Trump, Menendez has argued that he was politically targeted by the Justice Department. In a Friday post on X, Menendez accused Democrats of 'weaponizing the Justice Dept.' against him when he was first indicted in 2015. The Justice Department ultimately dropped that case in 2018. 'When, as the Chairman of the [Senate Foreign Relations Committee], I didn't go along with Obama's Iran deal, I was indicted, and the next day after being stripped of my position, Obama announced the Iran deal,' Menendez wrote. Despite his appeals to Trump, Menendez does not have a close relationship with the president and has been an adversary at key moments. Menendez joined all Senate Democrats in voting to convict Trump during his two impeachment trials, for instance — an act a person close to Trump previously told NBC News would weigh against him. This article was originally published on
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Bob Menendez Does Not Deserve a Pardon
"People talk about the Trump [Department of Justice] DOJ," Bob Menendez, the disgraced former senator from New Jersey, posted on X Friday, "but it was the Democrats who started weaponizing the Justice Dept." The timing of that message was interesting. Menendez, a Democrat, is scheduled to report to federal prison on June 17, after a jury convicted him of accepting almost $1 million in bribes in exchange for, among other things, favors that benefited foreign governments. The scheme was extensive. Menendez—along with his wife, Nadine—took gold bars, $480,000 in cash, and a $60,000 Mercedes-Benz convertible from three New Jersey businessmen, who, in return, had Menendez leverage the power of his office in a litany of corrupt ways. That included helping secure hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid to Egypt; assisting Egyptian-American entrepreneur Wael Hana in preserving a monopoly granted to him by that same country; attempting to influence multiple criminal investigations in a way that would satisfy two of his bribers; and promoting the interests of Qatar so that New Jersey real estate developer Fred Daibes could lock down a multi-million dollar investment from a fund associated with the Qatari government. This list is not exhaustive. The former senator was convicted last year on all 16 counts, which included bribery, honest services wire fraud, obstruction of justice, public official acting as a foreign agent, among several others. A judge sentenced him to 11 years in prison, which was, in some sense, a break, considering that the federal sentencing guidelines recommended a minimum of 24 years in prison. (His wife was convicted last month on all counts—15 in her case—and is scheduled to be sentenced in June.) Menendez's Friday post coincides not only with his looming prison sentence but also with the spate of pardons recently granted by President Donald Trump. It's understandable why the former senator would want to pull out all the stops here. Prison, to put it mildly, sucks. Trump should still decline to indulge him. Whether or not the president will be moved remains unclear. Among his recent pardons is Paul Walczak, an executive who was convicted of withholding millions of dollars in taxes from his employees' paychecks and then keeping the funds for himself. His pardon came shortly before he was to report to prison for an 18-month sentence—and after his mother attended a Trump fundraiser dinner at Mar-a-Lago, where, according to the invitation, admission cost $1 million. But perhaps more analogous to Menendez's situation is the pardon given to Scott Jenkins, the disgraced former Virginia sheriff who, in exchange for cash payments, gave out auxiliary deputy sheriff badges so recipients could invoke special privileges. It is not exactly a mystery why the pardon power's reputation is in the toilet. The problem is a bipartisan one—former President Joe Biden, for his part, issued preemptive pardons for his family members, Anthony Fauci, and others, which does not exactly instill confidence in the rule of law. Neither does pardoning people who sufficiently endear themselves to the chief executive. Pardon Attorney Ed Martin captured those motivations best on X: "No MAGA left behind," he wrote Monday, as he thanked Trump for pardoning Jenkins. But the pardon power, for all the negative attention it has received in recent months, can be an incredible tool for good. It is effectively the only lever to check overzealous prosecutors and unjust sentences in the federal system. Some of Trump's pardons make the case for this. Most famously there was Alice Marie Johnson, who was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in the '90s for her role as a drug mule in a cocaine ring; Trump initially commuted her sentence and later pardoned her in 2020. Listed in the latest round of pardons were John Moore and Tanner Mansell, two Florida diving instructors who were convicted of theft after freeing sharks they thought had been caught illegally—which, as Reason's Jacob Sullum notes, was a bizarre misuse of the discretion afforded to prosecutors. That is the sort of thing clemency is for: to give a lifeline to people who may have been railroaded by the government, which sometimes gets creative and fanatical in its attempts to punish people. It is not supposed to be a get-out-of-jail-free card for well-connected, powerful people who can sufficiently flatter the president. After all, Menendez, as a senator, was one of the most powerful people in the country. His case was not an example of politicizing justice, though a pardon would be. The post Bob Menendez Does Not Deserve a Pardon appeared first on
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Bob Menendez lashes out at Obama over Iran deal, ‘weaponization' of DOJ
Former Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) lashed out Friday at former President Obama, adding on to his past claims of 'weaponization' at the Justice Department (DOJ) politically targeting him. Menendez alleged in a post on the social platform X that Democrats started the weaponization of the DOJ against him in 2015 when he was indicted in his first corruption trial, which ultimately ended in a hung jury, as he opposed Obama's Iran nuclear deal. He was subsequently charged and convicted in a separate bribery case last year based on different allegations against him, leading to his 11-year prison sentence earlier this year that he is set to begin next month. 'People talk about the Trump DOJ, but it was the Democrats who started weaponizing the Justice Dept,' Menendez alleged. 'When, as the Chairman of the [Senate Foreign Relations Committee], I didn't go along with Obama's Iran deal, I was indicted, and the next day after being stripped of my position, Obama announced the Iran deal.' 'Obama told me that he could not have the Democratic Chairman of the SFRC be against him. By having me removed as the Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Obama removed my major opposition to his Iran deal,' he continued. But Menendez's claims have a few factual issues. Menendez was serving as the ranking member, not the chair, of the committee when he was indicted in April 2015. He had been serving as the chair until Democrats lost their majority in the Senate following the 2014 midterms. He also voluntarily stepped down from that position following his indictment, saying that stepping aside is 'in the best interests of the Committee, my colleagues, and the Senate' despite no rule requiring him to do so. While Menendez is correct that he was indicted the day before a framework agreement was made on what eventually became the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, he had been under investigation for a couple of years before that. After he stepped down, Menendez's successor as ranking member of the committee was then-Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), who also opposed the deal. Menendez previously made claims arguing he was politically prosecuted, saying after his sentencing that President Trump 'was right' about the weaponization of the DOJ. Trump regularly derided the DOJ over the multiple indictments issued against him as politically motivated during the 2024 election. But the Trump administration has also come under criticism over allegations that it is pursuing political prosecutions against political opponents, like former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) and New Jersey Rep. LaMonica McIver (D). Menendez was found guilty on all charges he faced, based on allegations that he accepted bribes in exchange for favors from wealthy businessmen and served as an agent for Egypt. He resigned from the Senate shortly after. Some observers have speculated whether Trump may weigh in to grant Menendez a pardon as he has granted for others who have alleged politically motivated prosecutions, but Trump hasn't commented on the case and Menendez hasn't publicly asked him for one. Trump said at a press conference at the White House on Friday in response to a question about pardoning Sean Combs that he would consider pardons based on if someone was 'mistreated' and not 'whether they like me or don't like me.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
NBC News
2 days ago
- Politics
- NBC News
Former Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez is still pushing for a Trump pardon before reporting to prison
President Donald Trump has not ruled out pardoning or commuting the sentence of former Sen. Bob Menendez, though allies believe there is only a small chance that the New Jersey Democrat will receive clemency before he's scheduled to report to prison next month, according to a White House official and three additional people familiar with the discussions. Menendez allies have made multiple overtures to the White House since Trump took office to request either a pardon or a commutation of his 11-year prison sentence following his conviction on bribery and corruption charges, according to four people familiar with the efforts. After one such overture, some of Menendez's allies were convinced Trump will not grant the New Jersey Democrat clemency, people familiar with the efforts said. But a White House official says Trump has not made a decision on the matter. Earlier this year, Menendez appealed to Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a former Senate colleague and a Trump ally, to request a pardon or sentence commutation on his behalf, according to three people with direct knowledge of that effort. Graham and Menendez have long had a close relationship, with Graham standing by the Democrat during Menendez's first indictment a decade ago on federal corruption charges. But Graham has declined to get involved. Menendez has also tried to use his longtime connections to Jewish leaders in New York and New Jersey as a different avenue to get to Trump, according to two people familiar with those discussions. Menendez was a fierce advocate for Israel during his time in office and has attempted to leverage his ties to prominent Jewish groups and key stakeholders, as NBC News previously reported. Menendez had also reached out to the family of Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner for help securing a pardon, but he was rebuffed, according to one source familiar with the attempt. Menendez sought and failed to obtain clemency from President Joe Biden before he left office earlier this year. Menendez pleaded not guilty on federal bribery and corruption charges but was convicted in July and resigned from the Senate in August. Menendez's wife, Nadine Menendez, was convicted on similar charges in a separate trial. In attempt to appeal to Trump, Menendez has argued that he was politically targeted by the Justice Department. In a Friday post on X, Menendez accused Democrats of 'weaponizing the Justice Dept.' against him when he was first indicted in 2015. The Justice Department ultimately dropped that case in 2018. 'When, as the Chairman of the [Senate Foreign Relations Committee], I didn't go along with Obama's Iran deal, I was indicted, and the next day after being stripped of my position, Obama announced the Iran deal,' Menendez wrote. Despite his appeals to Trump, Menendez does not have a close relationship with the president and has been an adversary at key moments. Menendez joined all Senate Democrats in voting to convict Trump during his two impeachment trials, for instance — an act a person close to Trump previously told NBC News would weigh against him.
The Hill
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Hill
Menendez lashes out at Obama over Iran deal, ‘weaponization' of DOJ
Former Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) lashed out Friday at former President Obama, adding on to his past claims of 'weaponization' at the Justice Department (DOJ) politically targeting him. Menendez alleged in a post on X that Democrats started the weaponization of the DOJ against him in 2015 when he was indicted in his first corruption trial, which ultimately ended in a hung jury, as he opposed Obama's Iran nuclear deal. He was subsequently charged and convicted in a separate bribery case last year based on different allegations against him, leading to his 11-year prison sentence earlier this year that he is set to begin next month. 'People talk about the Trump DOJ, but it was the Democrats who started weaponizing the Justice Dept,' Menendez alleged. 'When, as the Chairman of the [Senate Foreign Relations Committee], I didn't go along with Obama's Iran deal, I was indicted, and the next day after being stripped of my position, Obama announced the Iran deal.' 'Obama told me that he could not have the Democratic Chairman of the SFRC be against him. By having me removed as the Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Obama removed my major opposition to his Iran deal,' he continued. But Menendez's claims have a few factual issues. Menendez was serving as the ranking member, not the chair, of the committee when he was indicted in April 2015. He had been serving as the chair until Democrats lost their majority in the Senate following the 2014 midterms. He also voluntarily stepped down from that position following his indictment, saying that stepping aside is 'in the best interests of the Committee, my colleagues, and the Senate' despite no rule requiring him to do so. While Menendez is correct that he was indicted the day before a framework agreement was made on what eventually became the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, he had been under investigation for a couple years before that. After he stepped down, Menendez's successor as ranking member of the committee was then-Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), who also opposed the deal. Menendez previously made claims arguing that he was politically prosecuted, saying after his sentencing that President Trump 'was right' about the weaponization of the DOJ. Trump regularly derided the DOJ over the multiple indictments issued against him as politically motivated during the 2024 election. But the Trump administration has also come under criticism over allegations that it is pursuing political prosecutions against political opponents, like former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New Jersey Rep. LaMonica McIver (D). Menendez was found guilty on all charges he faced, based on allegations that he accepted bribes in exchange for favors from wealthy businessmen and served as an agent for Egypt. He resigned from the Senate shortly after. Some observers have speculated whether Trump may weigh in to grant Menendez a pardon as he has granted for others who have alleged politically motivated prosecutions, but Trump hasn't commented on the case and Menendez hasn't publicly asked him for one. Trump said at a press conference at the White House on Friday in response to a question about pardoning Sean Combs that he would consider pardons based on if someone was 'mistreated' and not 'whether they like me or don't like me.'
