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News 12 Staff

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Welcome back to New Jersey Power and Politics. I'm Eric Glanz Kruner. Former US Senator Bob Menendez sentenced to 11 years in prison this week. News 12's been following this federal case every step of the way. Our Chris Keating was inside Manhattan federal court when Menendez learned his fate. Convicted of bribery and acting as a foreign agent for another country, the country of Egypt, former US Senator Bob Menendez will serve a prison term of 11 years before imposing that sentence, the federal judge here in Manhattan spoke to Menendez, and Judge Cindy Stein told him somewhere along the way you became. A corrupt politician, he went further. I don't know what led you to it. Greed is certainly a part of it. Despite what the judge said there, Senator Menendez walked downstairs outside Manhattan federal courthouse and spoke to the media, vigorously defending himself. The judge's comments today. I am innocent and I look forward to filing appeals on a whole host. Of issues upon arriving at the federal courthouse in Manhattan, Bob Menendez and his attorneys were hopeful for an eight-year sentence. His attorney saying anything more would be unduly harsh. Instead, the 71 year old received 11 years. Menendez pleaded for leniency while speaking through tears. He told the judge, You have before you a chastened man. I dedicated my entire life to the service of others. Other than my family, I've lost everything. Every day I'm awake is punishment. Menendez was not only a senator but the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. However, a jury in July convicted him of bribery for taking $400,000 in cash, gold bars, and a new Mercedes for his wife Nadine. In return, he offered favors to friends who paid, namely two. Conspirators. Fred Davies was also sentenced today. He received 7 years. Whyal Hanna received an 8 year prison term. Judge Sydney Stein told Menendez upon sentencing, You were successful. You were powerful. You lost your way and working for the public good became working for your good. I'm Chris Keating, News 12, New Jersey. And as Chris has mentioned in handing down this 11 year sentence, the judge issued a scathing rebuke. I spoke with Rocco Ciperon, former federal prosecutor for the District of New Jersey, for his take on the judge's remarks. It does not surprise me again, part of a judge's function is to send not only a specific deterrent message and punishment to Senator Menendez here, particularly, but also a general deterrent message to let the public know that this kind of conduct will not be tolerated. And so the harsh words are geared at a broader deterrent message as well. That's very common for judges to do, and so that did not surprise me at all. Now I also had the chance this week to speak with Candace Kelly, legal analyst and professor of media law at Rowan University for her take on the sentencing and what's next for not only Bob Menendez but his wife Nadine as well. Canice prosecutors wanted 15. Menendez's lawyers, uh, had asked for no more than 27 months until they saw the sentences that Fred Davies and while Hanna had received. Were were you at all surprised by the severity of the sentence? You know what, I think that Menendez took a chance and I was not surprised by the severity because we have to look at the amount of money that was involved, um, you know, over $800,000 so that really puts you in the stratosphere of someone that will probably get a heavy sentence. So I don't think that there was a lot of surprise here. All of the details, everything that he did, his positions that he held. On the Foreign Relations Committee, his years of service and what this amounted to was this decision. I think that that's what surprised the judge the most and that really offended him the most that he had all of this power and as he said, I don't know if it was hubris or what, but somewhere along the way things changed for you and I, I was not surprised at the sentence. Yeah, and me out the punishment, the judge really Got the opportunity to explain his reasoning here and in this case it was really a tongue lashing from Menendez talking about how he had reached the apex of his power in addition to this being a sentencing for Bob Menendez, was this also a message to anyone else who might be in a situation like this? Uh, it's, I think it certainly was. I mean, we're going to look now to Nadine Menendez. Her trial begins in March. We can look at his co-defendants. One got 8 years, one got 7 years. Both got over a million dollars in penalties and fines. So if I was, uh, Nadine Menendez, I'm sure that her attorneys are saying, look, you certainly are very involved in this case, perhaps even more than the senator. You might want to think about doing something besides going to trial because look at your. Husband and the outcome of that you may not want to be in the same situation. On the other hand, she was not a senator. She was not someone that people's trust was held in, uh, didn't have over 30 years of experience as a politician, and that certainly played into it. So I think this is a very crucial time for Nadine and her attorneys to figure out what are we going to do here because we already see the path that Robert Menendez took and they would say that it did not work out. Listen, Bob Menendez broke down in tears multiple times in his plea for leniency, but outside the courthouse, he really struck what has been a familiar tone for him. It was defiant. He maintained his innocence and he said, quote, President Trump was right. This process is political and is corrupted to its core. He is still appealing. I think that what's interesting here and what you pointed out is that he mentioned Trump. I think that this is either a continuation or the beginning of a. Conversation with the White House to say I think you may want to consider pardoning me. Those doors are open and while it's generally a very long process, I think what he was doing is saying I might be reaching out to the White House. That might be my last ditch effort besides an appeal to go to this process. How difficult do you feel it would be to now seat a jury for his wife's trial in March, given the outcome of this one? Well, you know, we expect our jurors to be fair and impartial, no matter how they've, uh, been exposed or how much information they've been exposed to. We also have the voir dire process and we want to make sure that people are asked the right questions to make sure that they can fairly decide. I think it would be very difficult to get jurors to be seated, but again, we have processes in place that hopefully work out um in the name of justice and fairness. Again, Nadine Menendez's trial is set to begin March 18th. Bob Menendez, according to the judge, doesn't have to report to begin his sentence until June 6th to give him time to be with his wife during her trial. Much more to come on New Jersey power and politics right after the break. We'll be right back.

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Welcome back to New Jersey Power and Politics. I'm Ericlanz Krunner. President Trump following through with a campaign promise this week to address the scourge of anti-Semitism, especially in schools and on campuses. He signed an executive order to combat anti-Semitism in the wake of the Hamas terror attack on Israel in October 2023. The president saying he is ordering the Attorney General to aggressively prosecute terroristic threats, arson, vandalism, and violence against American Jews while promising. To all the resident aliens who joined in the pro jihadist protest, we put you on notice. We will find you and we will deport you. We will also quickly cancel the student visas of all Hamas sympathizers on college campuses which have been infested with radicalism like never before. Now among the schools called out for pervasive anti-Semitism on campus last year, Rutgers, whose president was called to testify before Congress. And in what is being billed as the first legislative victory of his term, the president signed the Lake and Riley Act into law this week. The bipartisan legislation requires Homeland Security to detain undocumented migrants for certain crimes, including theft and burglary or those resulting in death or serious injury. Congressman Josh Gottheimer is the only Democrat in New Jersey's congressional delegation who supported the legislation. As for Republicans Chris Smith, Tom Kean Junior, Jeff Van Drew, they all voted for the act, which is named after a 22 year old Georgia student killed last year by an undocumented migrant from Venezuela. And the Trump administration offering buyouts to all federal workers that made headlines this week. An email went out saying those who choose to resign before February 6th will be exempt from in-person work requirements until the end of September. They'll also keep their pay and benefits regardless of daily workload. All full-time federal employees are eligible, with a few exceptions including postal workers, military members, immigration officials, and certain national security roles. Well as New Jersey continues to fight in the courts over congestion pricing, an update from the other side of the Hudson on what critics call a tolling scheme, the MTA says it is working. The MTA says since the toll went into effect nearly a month ago, an estimated 1 million fewer vehicles headed into lower Manhattan, helping to reduce gridlock. Some traffic patterns shifted to overnight hours. Buss ridership is up in some cases, bus riders and car drivers are seeing faster commutes. And that'll do it for this week's show. I'm Eric Lantzronner. As always, we thank you for watching New Jersey Power and Politics. We'll see you again next time.

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Shell, one of the major players in the Atlantic Shores project slated for Southern New Jersey, just pulled out and is taking a $1 billion write-off. For some perspective, News 12's Eric Landskroner spoke with Republican Rep. Chris Smith.


Power & Politics: Shell pulls out of Southern NJ offshore wind project

Shell, one of the major players in the Atlantic Shores project slated for Southern New Jersey, just pulled out and is taking a $1 billion write-off. For some perspective, News 12's Eric Landskroner spoke with Republican Rep. Chris Smith.

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