Menendez banned from public office, judge rules

By: Kristie Catafi
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey

..... Former U.S. Senator Bob Menendez, who is in federal prison serving a sentence for bribery, is permanently disqualified from seeking or holding public office in New Jersey, a Mercer County Court Judge ruled.
..... Menendez began his 11-year prison sentence in June. [2025] He was found guilty on 16 felony counts in a federal corruption trial in July. [2024]
..... Menendez, his wife and three New Jersey businessmen - Wael Hana, Fred Daibes and Jose Uribe - were charged with orchestrating a bribery scheme. Menendez and his wife received, among other things, cash, gold bard and a luxury car in exchange for the sue of his political influence.
..... The federal indictment against the group was first unsealed in September 2023 and was updated with superseding indictments three times - in October of that year [2023] and in January and March 2024.
..... The guilty verdicts were issued for bribery, extortion and obstructionist of justice in a multilevel scheme that traded envelops of cash, gold bars and a new Mercedes for official acts that benefited Qatar and Egypt.
..... Menendez, his wife, Daibles and Hana were found guilty.
..... T4eh former senator was sentence to 11 years in prison, Hana more than eight years and Daibes seven years. Daibes was fined $1.75 million; Hana was fined $1.3 million. All three are appealing their cases. all three are in prison serving their sentence and filed appeals in February. [2025]
..... Menedez's wife, Nadine Menendez, is scheduled to report in the summer of 2026 after continuing medical treatment for breast cancer.
..... Uribe, who was recently sentenced to no jail time after pleading guilty and cooperation with the government, was its star witness and sifted against his co-conspirators.
..... Attorney General Matthew Platkin and the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability announced the ruling against Menendez on December 5. [2205]
..... Menendez, a longtime senator and former chairmen of the U.S. Senate's Foreign Relations Committee, "was forever disqualified" from holding office or any position of honor, trust, or profit in state or local government by New Jersey Superior Court Judge Robert Lougy, the Mercer County Assignment Judge.
..... According to the court order, if Menendez applies for public office or employment or takes any steps to campaign, run for, or be appointed or elected to public office, he will face a fourth-degree contempt-of-court charge.
..... Menendez's sentencing didn't have any conditions about seeking public office and only required that he not open any new line of credit.
..... "Critical to preserving the public's faith and trust in government institutions is ensuring that elected officials who commit crimes involving their offices don't find new opportunities to regain potions of power," Platkin said. "Too many people in New Jersey have a cynical viewpoint that corruption is a routine, widespread feature of our politics. We hope the court's decision sends a message that it is not acceptable and it will carry consequences."
..... The disqualification order was obtained by Deputy Attorney General Adam Klein, special assistant to the OPIA executive director, under the supervision of Corruption Bureau Director Jeffrey J. Manis and OPIA Executive Director Eric L. Gibson

Short Independent candidacy run

..... During the corruption trial, Menendez trial to run for reelection for his Senate seat as an independent.
..... Menendez faced numerous calls to resign from prominent Democrats, including from Governor Phil Murphy, Senator Cory Booker and Pennsylvania's Senator John Fetterman.
..... "Today, I submitted well above the threshold of signatures required to run for reelection," Menendez said in a statement posted on social media in June. "The people of this great state deserve a leader in Washington with a proven track record of fighting tooth and nail to deliver results, and I intend to keep doing so as an independent Democrat."
..... He only withdrew his name from the ballot and resigned after he was found guilty right before the deadline.

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