Ex-pro-Armenian senator Menendez’s war chest nearly drained after conviction

Former U.S. Senator Bob Menendez’s campaign funds have dwindled to just over $326,000, recent filings with the Federal Election Commission reveal.

Menendez, who is serving an eleven-year prison sentence for accepting bribes and illegally representing a foreign government, spent $175,000 of the funds on legal fees for his wife, Nadine Menendez, who was also convicted, Caliber.Az reports via U.S. media.

The former chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has spent more than $10 million from his once-substantial campaign war chest since his indictment in September 2023. Menendez announced his resignation from the Senate in July 2024, which took effect on August 20.

He began serving his sentence on June 17 and was moved to a minimum-security federal prison in Allenwood, Pennsylvania, the following month.

Menendez is appealing his conviction, which involved receiving gold bars, a luxury Mercedes, and hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash in return for acting as an agent for the Egyptian government while in office. His request to remain free during the appeal was rejected by the U.S. Court of Appeals in June.

Last month, Nadine Menendez was sentenced to four and a half years in federal prison.

By Aghakazim Guliyev