Convicted felon and former New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez fought back tears while describing his legacy as one of “breaking down barriers,” denying that it entailed breaking laws as well.
Despite his 16-count conviction last month for trading the power of his office for lucrative bribes, an emotional Menendez claimed he will leave behind a “good legacy.”
“My legacy is one of breaking down barriers,” Menendez told Spanish-American language broadcaster Noticias Univision, per a translation.
“A legacy is planting seeds to create a tree where you won’t sit under it. That’s a legacy. And in that sense, we have sown and planted so many seeds, which I know is a good legacy.”
Last week, Menendez (D-NJ) formally tendered his resignation from the Senate — seemingly timed so he could land one last paycheck from the taxpayers — and filed an appeal on his conviction.
Speaking in Spanish, Menendez refused to give even the slightest hint of remorse, emphatic that he was the victim as he stares down the specter of up to 222 years behind bars with sentencing slated for Oct. 29.
To those still backing him, Menendez urged them to wait for his appeal to play out, something he stressed he would take all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary.
“You’re going to see that there was an injustice and a legal wrong,” he said in an emotional, defiant tone.
“When you are innocent, you find it difficult. And when you know as I know that many times my voice was the only voice that was raised,” he later added. “I know that not having that voice on behalf of our community is a loss.”
Underlying his conviction were charges that he used his power and influence to interfere in US government activities to benefit three businessmen as well as the governments of Egypt and Qatar.
At the couple’s Englewood Cliffs home, authorities uncovered $486,471 in cash, a Mercedes-Benz convertible, thirteen 1-kilogram gold bars and more as evidence of the apparent bribes.
At one point, his attorneys seemingly threw Menendez’s “beautiful, tall” wife, Nadine, under the bus, claiming she had “kept him in the dark” about her machinations with their business pals. She is staring down a similar indictment, but the trial will take place at a later date due to her cancer diagnosis.
During the time period in question, Menendez held a powerful perch on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee but stepped down as chair last year in the wake of the bribery indictment.
Following his conviction, Menendez was out of allies in the US Senate. Almost all of the Senate Democratic caucus as well as top New Jersey Democrats demanded he resign, including Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).
The three-term Democrat’s post-conviction interview illustrates his penchant for leaning on identity politics as a cudgel amid his legal predicament.
As the son of Cuban immigrants, Menendez became the first Latino to chair the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He cited his ethnicity when the indictment was first handed down last September.
“Those behind this campaign simply cannot accept that a first-generation Latino American from humble beginnings could rise to be a US Senator,” Menendez said at the time.
Menendez had filed paperwork to vie for the seat he held since 2006 again this election cycle as an Independent after it was clear he couldn’t win the Democratic primary against Rep. Andy Kim (D-NJ). He has since withdrawn.
He previously survived bribery charges on an unrelated matter in 2017 due to a hung jury.
The Garden State Democrat insists he is also finding solace in God.
“If he took Daniel out of the lion’s den, if he split the Red Sea for Moses, if he gave Sara a child — everything is possible with him,” he said.
