Former Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) condemned his corruption case as a “political prosecution” and pointed to President Donald Trump’s legal battles as evidence of a corrupt justice system after being sentenced to 11 years in prison on Wednesday.
The New Jersey Democrat was convicted last year of accepting bribes in exchange for political favors. He resigned from the Senate soon after, though his downfall began earlier when he was forced to relinquish his influential position as chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee following the public disclosure of the charges against him.
A New York jury found that the former senator accepted extravagant bribes from three businessmen and acted as an agent of Egypt in return for using his political influence. Menendez is the first public official in U.S. history to be convicted of acting as a foreign agent while in office, The Hill reported.
