Summary
MENENDEZ, Robert, a Senator and a Representative from New Jersey; born in New York, N.Y., on January 1, 1954; graduated from Union Hill High School, Union City, N.J., 1972; B.A., Saint Peter's College, Jersey City, N.J., 1976; J.D., Rutgers University School of Law, Newark, N.J., 1979; lawyer, private practice; member of the Union City, N.J., board of education 1974-1978, and chief financial officer 1978-1982; mayor of Union City, N.J., 1986-1992; member of the New Jersey state general assembly 1987-1991; member of the New Jersey state senate 1991-1993; elected as a Democrat to the One Hundred Third and to the six succeeding Congresses, and served from January 3, 1993, to January 16, 2006, when he resigned to become a U.S. senator; chair, House Democratic Caucus (One Hundred Eighth through One Hundred Ninth Congresses); appointed on January 17, 2006, to the United States Senate to fill vacancy caused by resignation of Jon S. Corzine; service began on January 17, 2006, and took the oath of office on January 18, 2006; elected to the U.S. Senate in 2006 for the term commencing January 3, 2007; reelected in 2012, and again in 2018, and served from January 17, 2006, until his resignation on August 20, 2024; indicted by a federal grand jury in 2015 on charges of bribery, conspiracy, and false statements; the subsequent trial ended in a hung jury and the Justice Department subsequently dropped all charges; indicted in 2023 on separate charges of conspiracy to commit bribery, fraud, extortion, and failing to register as a foreign agent; later charged with obstruction of justice, and was convicted in 2024 on multiple felony counts; subsequently resigned from the Senate on August 20, 2024; chair, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (2008-2011), Committee on Foreign Relations (One Hundred Thirteenth Congress [February 1, 2013-January 3, 2015], One Hundred Seventeenth and One Hundred Eighteenth Congresses [January 3, 2021-September 27, 2023]).
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