U.S. Senator Who Called Bitcoin ‘Ideal Choice for Criminals,’ Convicted of Bribery

New Jersey Democratic Senator Bob Menendez pleaded guilty Tuesday to accepting bribes as a foreign agent.

The crypto community noted that it was ironic that Menendez was convicted of corruption, given that he described Bitcoin as “an ideal choice for criminals.”

New Jersey U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (Dem), a staunch critic of cryptocurrencies, was found guilty by a jury on Tuesday of accepting bribes, including gold bars and a luxury car, in exchange for political influence.

This development has led the crypto community to note the irony of a crypto critic who once claimed that bitcoin {{BTC}} was “an ideal choice for criminals” being convicted as a criminal.

Senator Menendez said Bitcoin is ideal for criminals.

He had just been convicted of accepting gold and cash as bribes.

Can anyone spell the word irony correctly?

— Koç K Crypto (@Coachkcrypto) July 17, 2024

Menendez was also a co-sponsor of the bill, titled “Accountability for Cryptocurrency in El Salvador Act (ACES),” which would require the State Department to report on mitigating risks to the U.S. financial system resulting from El Salvador’s adoption of bitcoin as legal tender.

Stacy Herbert, a member of the National Bitcoin Office (ONBTC) under Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, wrote on X that Senator Menendez “hides ill-gotten gold bars… while President Bukele has created the world’s most transparent government by making El Salvador’s public Bitcoin address available to the entire world to inspect.”

Herbert added that “the malicious actor is Bob Menendez” and that the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which Menendez chairs, “owes an apology to President Bukele and El Salvador.”

While Senator Bob Menendez was hiding ill-gotten gold bars he received as bribes, President Bukele was creating the world’s most transparent government by making El Salvador’s public Bitcoin address available for the entire world to inspect. pic.twitter.com/XKyw1FzfIT

— Stacy Herbert 🇸🇻🚀 (@stacyherbert) July 16, 2024

“I have never been anything but a patriot to and for my country. I have never, ever been a foreign agent,” Menendez said outside the courthouse after the verdict made him the first sitting member of Congress to be convicted of acting as a foreign agent.

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“This was not politics as usual; this was politics for profit,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement. “Now that Senator Menendez has been found guilty, his years of selling his office to the highest bidder are finally over.”

Menendez has been a congressman since 1993 and entered the Senate in 2006. He has so far refused to resign despite numerous calls from top colleagues, including Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

Menendez’s sentencing is expected to be announced on October 29, and he is expected to face decades in prison.

Read More: Bipartisan Senate Proposal Raises Alarm Over El Salvador’s Bitcoin Adoption