Disgraced former U.S. Senator Bob Menendez has burned through an $11 million campaign warchest and has just $7,617 in the bank after spending most of his money on legal defense fees.
He sent another $320,000 to Cozen O’Connor, the law firm handling appeals for the ex-Senator and his wife, Nadline, at the end of October.
Menendez began serving an 11-year federal prison sentence last fall following his conviction on federal bribery and conspiracy charges, and for illegally acting as an agent for a foreign government.
Reports filed with the Federal Election Commission show Menendez raised $11,026,706 for what was supposed to be his re-election campaign in 2024. His campaign collapsed after the Justice Department unsealed its corruption indictment in September 2023, and his brief bid for another term as an independent ended in the summer of 2024. He resigned from the Senate in August 2024.
Most of Menendez’s money went to legal fees – the $11 million doesn’t include a separate legal defense fund – and other expenses; Menendez spent over $25,000 at Morton’s, a Washington, D.C. steakhouse.