Robert Menéndez

American lawyer and politician. He is the senior senator of the United States from New Jersey. A member of the Democratic Party, in January 2006 he was appointed by then-senator Jon Corzine to occupy his place, which was vacant after Corzine resigned from the Senate to serve as governor of New Jersey. Subsequently, Menéndez obtained the position in November of that year in the general election, and was reelected to it in 2012 and 2018.

Before being appointed to the Senate, he served as representative of the 13th congressional district of New Jersey in the United States House of Representatives from 1993 to 2006. He is the first person of Latino origin to represent New Jersey in the United States Senate.

Biography
Private Life
Menéndez was born in New York City. His parents, of Cuban origin, were Evangelina and Mario Menéndez.1​ They fled Cuba in 1953 due to disapproval of the Batista government, settling then in New York City.​ His father was a carpenter and his mother a seamstress.​ He grew up in Union City, New Jersey, graduating from Union Hill High School.

After graduating with a B.A. from Saint Peter's College, he attended Rutgers School of Law-Newark in Newark, where he obtained the academic degree of Juris Doctor (J.D.). He is a member of the Lambda Theta Phi Latin Fraternity, Inc.​ He was admitted to the New Jersey Bar Association in 1980 and practiced law privately.

He married Jane Jacobsen, a teacher at the Union City Board of Education, and they had two children: Alicia, a graduate of Harvard University, and Robert, a student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Menéndez and Jacobsen are currently divorced.

In his free time, Robert Menéndez helps future leaders of the United States. On the last day of the New Jersey American Legion Boys State in 2008, Robert Menéndez was a major speaker.

Political Beginnings
In 1973, at the age of 19, while attending Saint Peter's College in Jersey City, he initiated a petition against his mentor, then City Mayor of Union William Musto, to reform the local education council. He was elected to the Union City Education Council in 1974, and later testified against Musto in a court trial, which resulted in Musto's indictment and sentencing to prison.

Menéndez was elected mayor of Union City in 1986 and served in that position until 1992. As mayor, he served simultaneously in the New Jersey Legislature, a common practice for New Jersey politicians. He served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 1987 to 1991 and in the New Jersey Senate from 1991 to 1993, after the death of Christopher Jackman.

Political Career
He served as congressman for the fourteenth district of New Jersey from 1992 to 2005, where he gained widespread recognition among the Latino community as a defender of migrants.

He arrived at the Senate as a replacement for Jon Corzine, who had left his seat to take the governorship of the State of New Jersey in 2005.

In 2016, he enacted a bill known as the "Nica Act" which aims to limit Nicaragua's access to international loans.

2006 Senatorial Election
Menéndez successfully competed in the 2006 senatorial race, keeping his Senate seat. In the November 2006 general election he defeated Republican Thomas Kean, Jr., current "whip" of the New Jersey Senate minority, son of former state governor Thomas Kean.

The competition had led Republicans to conceive hope of taking a seat from the Democrats. With 99% of precincts reported, Menéndez was ahead with 1,156,237 votes or 53% against Kean's 971,757 or 45%. However, Menéndez's margin of victory was the smallest for an incumbent Democratic candidate in 2006, which may be related to the fact that Menéndez had served less than a year in the Senate at the time of the reelection.

Menéndez was supported by major newspapers covering political elections in New Jersey: The New York Times,​ The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Star-Ledger,​ and The Record.

Threats to the OAS
Bob Menéndez suggested in 2009 that, should Cuba's reincorporation into the OAS be consummated, the U.S. should suspend funding contributions, which represent slightly more than 60% of the organization's budget.​

Corruption Investigation and Dismissal
In 2015 the Public Integrity Unit of the Department of Justice investigated him for corruption and presented 18 charges against him, some of which carry sentences of up to 15 years in prison. Bob for his part filed three appeals to have various charges dismissed—the last before the Supreme Court of Justice—which were denied. News sources such as CNN and the Cubadebate portal divulged emails, hotel invoices, free vacations, airline tickets and credit cards as elements that would prove the bribes he received. Justice attributes to Menendez helping his friend Salomón Melgen secure a contract of 500 thousand dollars to provide port security services in the Caribbean country. Also under investigation are the 750 thousand dollars he received in campaign funds.​ On September 22, 2022, Bob was accused of bribery by the federal prosecutor for the southern district of New York. The prosecutor accuses him of having received bribes from several businessmen and of having delivered confidential information from the United States government to the Egyptian government. After the complaint against him, the senator resigned from his position as chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations of the United States Senate.

Trial
In 2013, reports emerged that a federal grand jury in Miami was investigating Menéndez with respect to his role in defending the commercial interests of Florida ophthalmologist Salomon Melgen, one of his close friends and major donors. On April 1, 2015, the United States Department of Justice accused both Menéndez and Melgen, among other crimes of bribery, fraud and false statements. According to the accusation, Menéndez asked high-ranking State Department officials to pressure the government of the Dominican Republic to enforce a port security contract that would benefit Melgen's company while at the same time Melgen promised to give 60,000 dollars to Menendez's political campaign. Prosecutors also accused Menéndez of acting as Melgen's "personal senator," helping obtain United States visas for several of the businessman's girlfriends.13​14​15​

In return, Menendez is accused of accepting a series of benefits from Melgen, including trips on Melgen's private jet. Melgen also donated a substantial amount of money to benefit Menendez's political campaigns, and prosecutors claim that 750,000 of those contributions were linked to the personal benefits that Menéndez accepted. Menéndez's trial began on September 6, 2017 before Judge William H. Walls of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey.

On November 16, 2017, Judge Walls declared the trial against him null and void.

Controversies
In January 2014 the FBI initiated an investigation into Menéndez, accused of federal crime for having helped the Isaías brothers, a pair of Ecuadorian fugitives wanted in their country since the late 90s for charges of embezzlement from customers of the Filanbanco bank of their ownership.

Honors
Grand Cross of Isabella the Catholic
Order of Makarios III