In front of the courthouse of the Southern District of New York is senior correspondent Brenda Flanagan, who's brought us every nitty gritty detail of this case over the last nine weeks.

Brenda was in the courtroom as the verdict was read aloud.

Brenda, you've seen this case firsthand from the very beginning to that moment, the verdict was read.

What was that moment like in the courtroom?

Joanna, I have to tell you that as a reporter, you sometimes get to see history unfold right in front of you.

And I can tell you that all through these two months, really of testimony that Bob Menendez never really wavered.

He remained very intense, even though he wandered the hallways singing.

He was always very cordial with us.

He was fiercely insistent that he was innocent.

Well, today the jury disagreed and they disagreed unanimously.

And as we watched the jury foreman read forwoman, I should say, read the verdict count after count after count.

Guilty, guilty, guilty.

You saw his expression change.

He shook his head from side to side like he couldn't believe it.

He put his head into his hands at one point.

And when he walked out of the courtroom, his mouth was grim line.

And then later, when he came downstairs, he stood in front of the microphones and he said, I am a patriot.

I am not a foreign agent.

Bob Menendez sounded angry, Joanna.

So, Brenda, you sat through, I guess, about eight weeks of testimony on the prosecution side, nine weeks total.

What do you think swayed this jury?

Well, the prosecution's case was largely circumstantial, but they took a lot of care.

I would say that their arguments were intense.

They were very thorough.

They backed things up with emails and photographs and text messages.

And lawyers like to talk about making a good first impression, a big first impression with the jurors.

And that's what they did with those gold bars and that cash.

They let the jurors pass it around.

I just like I said, I saw one juror hold up a gold bar and go, wow, because it was so heavy.

Even the reporter's eyes got this big.

And I think that made an indelible impression on the jurors that really stuck with them.

Joanna.

We know we followed along thinking that at some point it was just never going to end because it extended far longer than originally planned.

I think originally only six weeks of testimony was planned.

We got to nine.

Why did this take so long?

I just think well, it's just sort of as a sidebar, we did have a covered delay.

Mr. Daibes got COVID and we missed three days of testimony for that.

But on top of that, it's a it was a high stakes case.

Both sides objected often strenuously to the point where you could see the judge getting exasperated.

There were flurries of motions that were filed sometimes late at night.

At one point, the judge came in, he sat down.

He was sort of grumpy and he said, so somebody filed a motion at 8:00 this morning as I was on my way into work.

And I haven't had a chance to read it yet.

So he told both sides, you, boy, you better stop the gamesmanship.

But when you add it all up, we got nine weeks of testimony.

Joanna.

Throughout the trial, we've talked about it ad nauseum.

They have blamed Nadine Menendez.

What is happening now with Nadine?

And clearly the defense excuse me.

Clearly the jury never really bought that argument.

What's happening there now?

Well, the jury never got to actually see Nadine.

I mean, she's been absent from the trial ever since her husband said that she was getting treated for breast cancer.

However, she was all over the testimony.

The defense indicated that she was the one that had orchestrated this entire scheme and essentially kept her husband in the dark.

To which the prosecution responded, You told the jury, Do you really think that Nadine Menendez is that kind of diabolical genius, quote unquote, diabolical genius who could have pulled this off?

Do you think that Senator Menendez, as the head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was really that clueless, which is, you know, quite a question for them to ponder.

But in the meantime, the judge has issued an order postponing Nadine's trial indefinitely while she undergoes, as we understand it, chemotherapy for this cancer Joanna.

So what happens next for the senator now that this guilty verdict has come down?

The judge did set a sentence to a sentencing date of October 29th.

At that afternoon, all three of the defendants are going to be sentenced, Joanna.

It will be, I think, Hana first, then Daibes and then Senator Menendez at 3:30.

He is not able to file the appeal that he has promised until after that sentencing date.

Wow.

Such a momentous day in court.

I'm sure it's one you're going to remember for a long time.

Senior correspondent Brenda Flanagan.

You have brought us few updates day in and day out, forever grateful for all of this coverage in this heat.

Have to add that.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.