Sen. Bob Menendez was found guilty Tuesday. Here's what it was like in the courtroom.
NEW YORK -- For more than 30 years, CBS New York's Christine Sloan has covered the career of New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez. She reported the scene inside the federal courthouse in Lower Manhattan on Tuesday, as Menendez was convicted on all 16 counts in his bribery and extortion trial, as "an extraordinary moment."
The judge had warned everyone that there was to be no outbursts whatsoever during the reading of the verdict.
Sloan reported there was complete silence in the courtroom for many minutes. Then, when each of the counts came in as guilty, Menendez went from stoic to nodding his head and then he raised his hands to his face, put his head down and looked at the jury and said nothing.
Menendez's sister, Caridad Gonzalez, and daughter, Alicia Menendez, showed no emotion, but had a look of dread, Sloan reported, adding the family of defendant Wael Hana, who was found guilty on six counts, sat in the front and cried silently.
Sloan reported Menendez joined her as she was walking out of the courtroom after the verdict was read. She said he nodded his head and looked very upset. She said Menendez has always talked to her and had said earlier in the trial he trusted the jury and "put it in God's hands."
"We will be successful upon appeal"
The defense has said it will appeal and has until the middle of August to file certain motions, Sloan reported.
"We were surprised and disappointed with the jury's verdict. We disagree with it," said Adam Fee, attorney for Menendez.
Menendez said he has never violated his public oath.
"I have every faith that the law and the facts did not sustain that decision, and that we will be successful upon appeal," Menendez said.
The jury, comprised of a very diverse group of six men and six women, ordered lunch earlier than usual Tuesday, which tipped some reporters off that a verdict was imminent. Sloan said the jury clearly looked tired after almost two months of trial.
They had asked questions earlier in deliberations that led some to believe they were leaning toward a not guilty verdict, but when Menendez was found guilty on counts 1 and 2, it was fairly certain he was going to be found guilty on the rest of them as well, Sloan reported.
The defense painstakingly explained in summation that there was no direct evidence -- no emails, text messages, or audio -- linking Menendez to extortion. However, Sloan reported the jury did see a lot of gold bars and a lot of cash stuffed in envelopes. They also heard about fingerprints from Fred Daibes, who was convicted on seven counts, on Menendez's jacket. Sloan reported all of that stood out.
"This case has always been about shocking levels of corruption, hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in the form of cash, gold bars, a Mercedes-Benz. This wasn't politics as usual. This was politics for profit," U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said.
The guilty verdict covered charges that included bribery, conspiracy and extortion, plus acting as a foreign agent for the governments of Qatar and Egypt, which Sloan reported was especially hard on the senator, even though the bribery and conspiracy charges will carry more years at sentencing on Oct. 29.
"I have never, never been a foreign agent and the decision rendered by the jury today would put at risk every member of the United States Senate," Menendez said.
What the verdict means for Menendez in the short term
Not long after Menendez was indicted, he stepped down as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, but refused to resign as a senator. Sloan reported she does not expect him to step down in the immediate future, citing how he stayed in the race to run as an independent and spent around $2 million from his campaign war chest on reelection.
However, after the verdict was read, calls immediately started coming in for him to step down.
Sloan reported Menendez will now be under an extreme amount of pressure to resign, but if he does it will depend on the appeal process.
