2023-09-22 15:58:02
NEW YORK (AP) — Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey and his wife Nadine were indicted Friday for receiving bribes of money, gold bars and a luxury car in exchange for using their influence in foreign affairs to favor to the government of Egypt, among other acts of corruption.
During a search of the couple’s home, $100,000 in gold bars and $480,000 in cash were found, prosecutors said, announcing charges against the 69-year-old Democratic senator, nearly six years after a trial against him was filed. declared void due to lack of agreement among the jury.
The current indictment is unrelated to previous allegations that Menendez accepted lavish gifts in exchange for lobbying government officials on behalf of a Florida doctor.
Messages were left with Menendez’s Senate spokesman and his political advisor. David Schertler, an attorney for Menendez’s wife, said she “denies any criminal conduct and will vigorously contest these charges in court.”
The Senate Historical Office notes that Menendez is apparently the first sitting senator in U.S. history to be charged in two separate criminal cases. In next year’s elections, Menendez will try to extend his three-decade career in Washington. Democrats have a narrow majority in the upper house.
The indictment alleges that Menendez provided confidential information to the U.S. government and took other steps to secretly assist Egypt, including drafting a letter on Egypt’s behalf to pressure other senators to lift the $300 million suspension in help the country.
In April 2020, shortly after meeting with an Egyptian official, authorities allege, Menendez also pressured then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to increase U.S. involvement in stalled negotiations involving Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan to build a dam on the Nile River, an important foreign policy issue for Egypt.
Prosecutors allege that Menendez and his wife accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from three business partners, Wael Hana, Jose Uribe and Fred Daibes. He also used his influence to pressure the president to appoint a federal prosecutor for New Jersey who would protect Daibes, a longtime friend and prominent New Jersey developer facing criminal prosecution, they said.
After Menendez called a government official about the Daibes case, according to the indictment, Uribe and Hana, both friends of the senator and his wife, gave his wife a Mercedes-Benz convertible. The indictment details that once the purchase was completed, Nadine Menendez texted her husband to say, “Congratulations mon amour de la vie, we are the proud owners of a 2019 Mercedes,” with an emoji of heart.
Now that he has been indicted, Menendez will have to resign as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Rules for the Senate Democratic caucus state that any member charged with a felony must resign from a leadership position.
Menendez had to resign from his position as the top Democrat on the panel when he was indicted in 2015. He resumed the position in 2018 when he was acquitted of the charges.
The first time Menendez was indicted, he faced charges of using his political influence to help a Florida ophthalmologist who had given him gifts and campaign contributions.
The new charges result from a multi-year investigation that investigated, among other things, the transactions of a New Jersey businessman — a friend of Menendez’s wife — who obtained authorization from the Egyptian government to certify that meat imported by that country satisfies Islamic dietary requirements. Investigators also asked questions about the Menendez family’s interactions with a New Jersey real estate businessman.
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