New Jersey GOP gubernatorial candidate Jon Bramnick denounces political corruption in his state.

After 28 days of witness testimony, lawyers for New Jersey Democrat Senator Bob Menendez rested their case the day before the 4th of July holiday weekend. Menendez notably abstained from taking the stand, stating the government "failed to prove every aspect" of its case.

However, less than two weeks later, on July 16, 2024, the New York jury found Menendez guilty on all 16 counts.

Menendez, along with his wife Nadine Menendez, and three New Jersey businessmen, were charged with participating in a years-long, international bribery scheme with a total of 16 felony counts, including bribery, fraud, extortion, obstruction of justice and acting as a foreign agent.

COULD BOB MENENDEZ RUN FOR RE-ELECTION AFTER BEING FOUND GUILTY OF CORRUPTION?

Menendez had also been accused of pressuring officials in the U.S. attorney’s office in Newark and the New Jersey attorney general’s office to halt criminal investigations into one of the men who became a co-defendant.

Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey and his wife Nadine Menendez arrive to the federal courthouse in New York, Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

The indictment issued by the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York alleged the senator accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars of bribes between 2018 and 2022 in exchange for an agreement to use his official position to protect and enrich the business of the three co-defendants as well as benefit Egypt’s government.

This isn’t the first time a New Jersey........

© Fox News