Gold Bar Bob: The Downfall of the Most Corrupt U.S. Senator

American politics at its sleaziest is unraveled in this labyrinthine exposé. New York Post reporter Vincent (Overture of Hope) and Anderson, an investigator with the Last Government Watchdog organization, recap former U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez’s 2024 conviction on federal charges of accepting bribes, obstructing justice, and acting as an agent of foreign governments. The scandal involved a kaleidoscope of influence peddling by Menendez, including efforts to help the Egyptian government get a $300 million arms deal; in exchange, Menendez received a Mercedes, gold bars, and cash. Vincent and Anderson trace a lifetime of Menendez malfeasance, from patronage favors and shady real estate deals as mayor of Union City, N.J.—some of it involving the anti-Castro terrorist organization Omega 7—through his first corruption trial in 2015, which somehow managed to involve both Medicare fraud and port security in the Dominican Republic. Vincent and Anderson lay it all out in convincing if sometimes eye-glazing detail; there are a few colorful, pungent moments—“perhaps the senator was only half listening to Uribe’s woes as he sat licking the fat stub of his cigar”—but what sticks is the banal routine of graft in both New Jersey politics and the federal government. It’s an illuminating but dispiriting picture of American governance as a realm where seamy misconduct is taken for granted. (Oct.)