Former Sen. Bob Menendez hoping for clemency from Trump in wake of corruption conviction

Former Democrat Sen. Bob Menendez appears to be fishing for a pardon from President Donald Trump after being sentenced to 11 years in prison on massive corruption charges.

After being sentenced on Wednesday, Menendez stated, "President Trump was right. This process is political, and it’s corrupted to the core. I hope President Trump cleans up the cesspool and restores the integrity to the system.”

Menendez was found guilty on 16 different counts including charges of bribery and acting as a foreign agent of Egypt.

Since his conviction, Menendez has loudly blasted the indictment and case against him as political, echoing claims made by Trump who defeated multiple political indictments against him over the past four years.

Like Trump, Menendez also faced charges in the Southern District of New York, which he described as a “Wild West of political prosecutions” and claimed that, like Trump, he was the victim of a “political witch hunt.”

All of this points to the possibility that Menendez may be attempting to secure  a pardon from Trump by appealing to the president's hatred of political indictments, but it remains to be seen if the commander in chief is even monitoring this situation.