Ex-NJ Sen. Bob Menendez says ‘Trump was right’ about politically-charged prosecutions as he panders for pardon in bribery scheme

He’s a goldmine of hypocrisy. 

Disgraced former New Jersey senator Bob Menendez is saying “Trump was right” about political prosecutions in the wake of receiving an 11-year sentence in his corruption case — despite a history of calling the president a “Russian asset.”

“Gold Bar Bob,” 71, spoke to reporters outside the federal courthouse in Lower Manhattan — where he begged for mercy from President Trump — who he previously voted to impeach twice.

“President Trump was right,” Menendez declared Monday. “This process is political and is corrupted to its core. I hope President Trump cleans up the cesspool and restores the integrity to the system.”

The pol — who was found guilty of trading favors for foreign governments and businessmen in exchange for cash, gold bars and even a Mercedes-Benz convertible — then quickly ran away from the press gaggle, ignoring reporters who asked him to explain how this prosecution was political in nature.

This obvious pandering to the world’s most powerful man is a far cry from Menendez’s treatment of Trump during his first term.

Menendez, who sold out his office to representatives of the Egyptian government, claimed Trump was unethical for casting aspersions on legal inquiries into alleged connections to the Russian government.

“I’m talking about the entirely legitimate question of whether Donald Trump could be compromised by the Russian government,” Menendez — who was himself compromised by a foreign government — said on the Senate floor in 2019, adding, “It’s more than a legitimate question.”

The embattled politician went on to criticize Trump for “discrediting” the then-active Mueller probe into the president’s alleged ties to the Russian government.

“Meanwhile, the president and his cheerleaders on Fox News continue to discredit the Mueller probe as some kind of partisan witchhunt,” said Menendez, going on to tout the convictions stemming from the probe as evidence of its non-political motivations.

Now, Menendez is whistling a different — more desperate — tune in the hopes that Trump has a short memory.

The former head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee was convicted on 16 counts, including bribery, extortion, acting as an illegal foreign agent on behalf of the Egyptian government, and obstructing justice.

During a 2022 raid of Menendez’s Englewood Cliffs home, federal investigators found 13 gold bars worth $150,000 in a bedroom safe, nearly $500,000 in cash throughout the home, and cash-filled envelopes stuffed in the pockets of his official Senate jacket.

“Menendez, who swore an oath to represent the United States and the State of New Jersey, instead put his high office up for sale in exchange for this hoard of bribes,” prosecutors wrote during last year’s trial.

Menendez’s wife Nadine was also charged as part of the same probe, but her case was delayed due to a breast cancer diagnosis. Her trial is set for March.