Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) declined to call on Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) to resign after he was indicted on federal corruption and bribery charges.
Anchor Dana Bash said, “Senator Bob Menendez is due in federal court on Wednesday on bribery and corruption charges, including allegations that he received gold bars, a luxury car, and hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes, and he gave sensitive government information to Egypt. He is denying these charges, I should say. But many Democratic members and officials in New Jersey are saying that he should resign. Do you?”
Durbin said, “This is a very serious charge. There’s no question about it. But it bears reminding us of what I’ve said about the indictments against Donald Trump, equally serious charges. These are, in fact, indictments that have to be proven. Under the rule of law, a person who is accused is entitled to the presumption of innocence. And it’s the responsibility of the government to prove that case.”
He continued, “I said that about Donald Trump. I’ll say the same thing about Bob Menendez. But the Senate Democratic caucus has a hard and fast rule. When indicted, you lose your position in leadership or chairmanship of a committee. That is what has happened with Senator Menendez. He lost the chairmanship of one of our most important committees, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. In terms of resignation, that’s a decision to be made by Senator Menendez and the people of New Jersey.”
Durbin added, “These are charges that have to be proven, and there is a presumption of innocence. How far it goes in terms of his future service is something to be decided by the senator and the people of New Jersey.”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
Dem Senator ‘Bullion Bob’ Menendez Charged for Accepting Bribes Worth Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars
Prosecutors say the Biden ally traded political influence for cash, gold, a Mercedes Benz, and mortgage payments Sen. Robert Menendez (D., N.J.) (Getty Images)
Senator Robert Menendez (D., N.J.) and his wife have been charged with bribery offenses in connection with their relationship with three New Jersey businessmen, federal prosecutors said on Friday.
The U.S. Attorney's office in Manhattan accused the defendants of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in exchange for using Menendez's power and influence as a senator to seek to protect and enrich the businessmen, and benefit the government of Egypt.
Prosecutors said the bribes included cash, gold, payments toward a home mortgage, compensation for a job with minimal requirements, a luxury vehicle, and other things of value.
Menendez, the chair of the influential Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, and his wife, Nadine Menendez, who has been married to the senator since 2020, face three criminal counts each.
The senator's office and a lawyer who has represented Nadine Menendez did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The news comes the day after it was reported that Menendez is under investigation for allegedly accepting gold bars from a corrupt businessman in exchange for help.
Menendez has also been under investigation for gifts he allegedly received from a company that won a suspicious contract to certify halal meat exports to Egypt. The contract attracted scrutiny because the head of the company is not Muslim and had little experience in halal certification. Investigators were probing whether Menendez, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, could have used his influence over Egypt to win the company the contract in exchange for gifts.
Menendez has been an important ally to fellow Democrat President Joe Biden as he has sought to reassert U.S. influence on the world stage, something particularly crucial as Biden rallies support for congressional aid to Ukraine and Washington looks for ways to push back against a rising China.
Menendez and his four co-defendants are expected to appear in Manhattan federal court on Sept. 27, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan said.
Menendez is up for reelection next year, and an investigation could complicate Democrats' effort to expand their slim 51-49 seat majority in the 100-member Senate.
Menendez and his wife face three criminal counts each: conspiracy to commit bribery, conspiracy to commit honest services fraud, and conspiracy to commit extortion under color of official right.
Prosecutors are seeking to have Menendez forfeit assets including his New Jersey home, a 2019 Mercedes-Benz, and about $566,000 in cash, gold bars, and funds from a bank account.
The businessmen—Wael Hana, Jose Uribe, and Fred Daibes—were also charged in the scheme.
An attorney who has represented Daibes did not respond to a request for comment.
Prosecutors said Hana, who is originally from Egypt, arranged dinners and meetings between Menendez and Egyptian officials in 2018 at which the officials pressed Menendez on the status of U.S. military aid. In exchange, Hana put Nadine Menendez on his company's payroll, prosecutors said.
Egypt at the time was one of the largest recipients of U.S. military aid, but the State Department had withheld $195 million in 2017 and canceled an additional $65.7 million until the country could demonstrate improvements on human rights and democracy.
Menendez at a meeting in 2018 told Hana non-public information about the status of the aid, prosecutors said. Hana then texted an Egyptian official, "The ban on small arms and ammunition to Egypt has been lifted," according to an indictment made public on Friday.
Prosecutors said Egypt’s government in 2019 granted one of Hana’s companies an exclusive license to export halal food from the United States to Egypt, despite lacking experience in halal certification. Hana used the proceeds from those exports to fund the bribe payments, according to the indictment.
After the U.S. Department of Agriculture raised concerns about Hana’s monopoly with Egyptian officials due to concerns over high costs to U.S. meat producers, Menendez asked a USDA official to let the company keep its status, prosecutors said.
The official did not comply with Menendez’s demands but the company nonetheless kept its monopoly, according to the indictment.
The Egyptian embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Damian Williams, the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, was set to address the charges at an 11 a.m. press conference.
Menendez had previously been charged in New Jersey with accepting private flights, campaign contributions and other bribes from a wealthy patron in exchange for official favors, but a 2017 trial ended in a jury deadlock.
Prosecutors dropped their bribery case in 2018 and Menendez had maintained his innocence.
He was reelected later that year to his third term in the Senate, which he first joined in 2006.
(Reporting by Luc Cohen and Jonathan Stempel in New York; additional reporting by Patricia Zengerle, Simon Lewis, and Andrew Goudsward in Washington; writing by Tom Hals and editing by Mark Porter)
Published under: Bob Menendez
Feds Investigating 'Bullion Bob' Menendez Over Mysterious Gold Bars: Report Senator Bob Menendez and his wife Nadine Arslanian (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images). Federal prosecutors are probing whether scandal-plagued Senator Robert Menendez accepted gold bars from a corrupt businessman in exchange for help in a federal fraud investigation.
The Washington Free Beacon reported earlier this year that the New Jersey Democrat and his wife, businesswoman Nadine Arslanian, sold up to $400,000 in gold bullion last year. Menendez amended his financial disclosure in March 2022 to disclose he obtained the precious metal in 2020, the Free Beacon reported.
Now, the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan is reportedly investigating whether New Jersey businessman Fred Daibes arranged to give the gold to Menendez in exchange for the senator’s help in his federal bank fraud case. Prosecutors in New Jersey indicted Daibes in 2018 on 16 counts of conspiracy, loan application fraud, and filing false bank documents. He pleaded guilty to just one count of making false entries related to a $1.8 million loan. Prosecutors agreed to sentence Daibes to probation as part of the plea agreement, in a deal Daibes’s attorney said was a "favorable" outcome for his client.
It’s the latest bribery investigation into Menendez, who is up for reelection next year. Federal prosecutors in Manhattan are reportedly considering corruption charges against the three-term senator for accepting bribes from the owner of a New Jersey-based halal food company. The investigation centers on whether Menendez helped the company obtain a license to certify halal meat exports to Egypt in exchange for jewelry, an apartment, and a Mercedes Benz.
Menendez was indicted in 2015 on bribery charges for allegedly accepting gifts and vacations from Florida eye doctor Salomon Melgen. Prosecutors in that case alleged that Menendez intervened with the Department of Health and Human Services on behalf of Melgen in a $9 million Medicaid billing dispute. He also allegedly lobbied American diplomats to grant visas to Melgen’s foreign girlfriends. Menendez was acquitted in 2018. Melgen was sentenced to 17 years in prison for Medicaid fraud, but President Donald Trump commuted his sentence in 2021.
It is unclear who Menendez allegedly contacted on behalf of Daibes, a prominent Democratic donor who has given more than $18,000 to Menendez’s campaigns. Menendez has extensive ties to New Jersey U.S. attorney Philip Sellinger. Sellinger gave $1,000 in "home goods" to Menendez and Arslanian at their wedding in 2020, according to financial disclosures. He contributed $40,000 to Menendez's legal defense fund in relation to the Melgen case.
There is no indication that Menendez and Sellinger have discussed the Daibes case, but Sellinger has recused himself from the investigation.
Menendez’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York announced Friday morning that it will soon unseal an indictment charging Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and his wife with counts of bribery.
In a tweet, the office alleges the forthcoming bribery charges against the sitting senator and his wife, Nadine Menendez, are “in connection with their corrupt relationship with three New Jersey businessmen”:
The office, headed up by U.S. Attorney Damian Williams, is set to hold a press conference at 11:00 a.m. Eastern to formally announce the unsealing.
Menendez is reportedly at the center of a separate but similar federal investigation, a 2015 probe into Menedez and Democrat donor Salomon Melgen on allegations of bribery and conspiracy, as Breitbart News noted . Menendez was indicted that year “on corruption charges, following a months-long federal investigation into whether he used his power to advance the special interests of a friend and donor in exchange for gifts,” as the Guardian reported at the time.
“Menendez received cash, gold bars, payments toward a home mortgage, compensation for a low- or no-show job, a luxury vehicle and other items of value,” NBC News reported , citing a copy of the filing it obtained.
In May, the Wall Street Journal noted that in 2018, Menendez held a meeting with one New Jersey businessman, Wael Hana, allegedly at the center of the Southern District of New York’s corruption probe into Menendez:
The meeting, which hasn’t been previously reported, came months before the businessman, Wael Hana, secured a contract with Egyptian officials for certifying halal meat exports. The contract is a key part of the probe examining whether Menendez, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, or his wife received gifts in exchange for political favors.
…
That year, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi and his military council decided they wanted one company to control all imports of halal meat, as part of a broader effort to increase the military’s control on the Egyptian economy , according to senior Egyptian officials. Hana, a U.S. citizen and Egyptian national, had limited experience with halal certification before winning the contract with Cairo.
Months later, in May 2019, Hana’s company became the sole certifier of halal meat exported from the U.S. to Egypt, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Menendez pushed back against the allegations while speaking with CNN.
“If anyone looks at my history on Egypt, they would know that by both denying aid to Egypt, denying arms sales to Egypt, criticizing its human-rights records, I am not in a position to be helpful to anyone as it relates to Egypt,” he said.
Notably, Breitbart News’s Washington Bureau Chief Matthew Boyle first reported during his time at the Daily Caller that Menendez, while in the Dominican Republic, solicited underage prostitutes.
“Presented with specific, corroborated allegations that defendants Menendez and Melgen had sex with underage prostitutes in the Dominican Republic, the Government responsibly and dutifully investigated those serious allegations,” the Department of Justice wrote in a 2015 filing.
VIDEO
CUTE AND PASTE YOUTUBE LINK
how many of these clowns are gamer lawyers?
Burning Man Roast https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXC5OvdyWXc
For George Soros it was about control to gain influence, access, and special treatment. After the election Biden formed a transition team that staffed itself with people connected to Soros.
But his money also played a part. Soros spent over $70 million on activities that backed Biden's candidacy. Soros bought frequent access to Obama. That access returned under Biden. Biden's Kampf
DEM PARASITE LAWYERS GATHER AROUND THE SAME DADDY BIGBUCK$ NEO-FASCIST GEORGE SOROS
Records: Son of Billionaire Democrat Donor George Soros Has Visited the White House 14 Times https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2023/04/08/records-son-of-billionaire-democrat-donor-george-soros-has-visited-white-house-14-times/
“Protect and enrich.” This is a perfect encapsulation of the Clinton Foundation (TWO GAMER LAWYERS - OWNED BY GEORGE SOROS ) (WHAT ABOUT THE CHINA BIDEN PENN CENTER?) and the Obama (TWO GAMER LAWYERS - OWNED BY GEORGE SOROS ) book and television deals. Then there is the Biden family (FOUR GAMER LAWYERS - JOE, HUNTER, JAMES, FRANK - OWNED BY GEORGE SOROS AND LARRY FINK OF BLACKROCK) corruption, followed closely behind by similar abuses of power and office by the Warren (GAMER LAWYER) and Sanders families, as Peter Schweizer described in his recent book “Profiles in Corruption.” These names just scratch the surface of government corruption (ADD GAMER LAWYER KAMALA HARRIS (WANTS TO BE OWNED BY GEORGE SOROS) AND HER LAWYER HUSBAND AND THE BANKSTERS’ RENT BOY, LAWYER CHUCK SCHUMER , OWNED BY LARRY FINK OF BLACKROCK WHO OWNS A BIG PIECES OF THE ‘BIG GUY’ JOE, AND GEORGE SOROS’ RENT BOY ( GAMER LAW Y ER ) TONY BLINKEN , AS WELL AS CON MAN (GAMER LAWYER) ADAM SHIFF ) AND HIS CORRUPTNESS (GAMER LAWYER) BOB MENENDEZ STILL EVADING PRISON.
BRIAN C JOONDEPH
Since Biden’s inauguration, the University of Pennsylvania has disclosed at least $14 million in donations from China or Hong Kong, the Free Beacon reported last week. The names of these donors have yet to be disclosed by the Department of Education, breaking the precedent of prior administrations which published foreign donor names in a public database.
One topic that Hillary is quick to criticize President Trump on is his relationship with Saudia Arabia. It’s ironic given the Clinton Foundation’s refusal to state that they will no longer accept financial donations from The Kingdom as others have.
For one thing, there’s a very sordid background to the story. The family has a long history of corruption and drug use unhampered by legal prosecution. SHOCKING New Evidence of Joe Biden's Corruption
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMibzjsXWQU
Almost three years later, the media and other Democrats are still burying the story of massive Biden family corruption, no matter how much proof they are shown.
And they never ceased promoting the biggest lie of all, which is that the Obama administration was scandal-free because no one went to jail . That's called skating in the real world.
JUDICIAL WATCH’S TEN MOST CORRUPT LIST
President Barack Obama: During his presidential campaign, President Obama promised to run an ethical and transparent administration. However, in his first year in office, the President has delivered corruption and secrecy, bri nging Chicago-style political corruption to the White House. JUDICIAL WATCH
Biden’s influence-peddling is consistent with what I wrote in my book, 'Capitol Hills Criminal Underground'
By Richard Lawless
More than three years ago, MedLaw Publishing released my book, “ Capitol Hills C riminal Underground ” in which I, the book's author, describe a long-running “protection racket” being run by then-Vice President Joe Biden, as well as Attorney General Eric Holder and New York Senator, Chuck Schumer.
The three amigos effectively arranged to have all Wall Street criminal cases directed to the lefty-friendly Southern District of New York, and for the right “payments” the cases would be closed. Money would then go into PACs controlled by Schumer and distributed to all those involved. In return for those payments, there would be no investigations, no prosecutions and no regulatory action. As author, I tracked over $110,000,000 in payments to politicians.
The CIA tracked some of the money-laundering related to the theft by these Wall Street companies and was able to track back the payments to senior DOJ officials and senior politicians like Vice President Joe Biden.
I, and a senior CIA officer, offered this evidence to both FBI Director James Comey and DoJ Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz. They both declined to respond. I filed criminal complaints with the FBI and was told by field agents that senior leadership at the DOJ would not allow anyone to work the criminal complaints.
I want to encourage all Americans to read my book, "Capitol Hill's Criminal Underground" and decide for themselves.
VIDEO
THE BIDEN GLOBAL CRIME FAMILY OF LYING PARASITE LAWYERS PROTECTED BY GAMER LAWYER MERRICK GARLAND, A.G. OF THE UNITED STATES
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2_kSqvsUEQ
The Worst President in the Last 100 Years" - Victor Davis Hanson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8J6WjzdPBCo
Victor Davis Hanson Questions Obama's Political Past https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVkCTRYgfk0
Victor Davis Hanson- Resetting the Obama Reset https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXlx5mL0N7E
Chris Hedges on THE END Of America... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygM7JrLCDzU
The Biden Crime Family Comes Undone
Say it ain’t so, Joe.
Daniel Greenfield
https://www.frontpagemag.com/biden-crime-family-comes-undone-daniel-greenfield/
Daniel Greenfield, a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the Freedom Center, is an investigative journalist and writer focusing on the radical Left and Islamic terrorism.
The Biden family is notorious for being the crookedest clan not only in Delaware, but in D.C.
VIDEO
Watters: I guarantee you Satan went to law school
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6Ln2aXLqWw
THERE IS A COMMONALITY AMONG THESE PEOPLE:
1.) THEY'RE GAMER LAWYERS.
2.) THEY HAVE A LONG DOCUMENTED HISTORY OF LYING TO THE AMERICA PEOPLE
3.) THEY ARE FAVORED AND FUNDED BY THE BIGGEST CRIMINALS ON WALL STREET.
4.) THEY ARE ALL BANKSTER BRIBES SUCKERS. MOST HAVE MADE FORTUNES SUCKING BANKSTER FEES IN THE FORM OF 'SPEECH FEE' BRIBES.
5.) MOST ARE SERVANTS OF THE BILLIONAIRE CLASS, AND IN PARTICULAR, GEORGE SOROS.
6.) ALL ARE DEDICATED TO PROTECTING THE HIGH TECH BILLIONAIRE CLASS WHO WANT NO CAPS ON IMPORTING 'CHEAP' LABOR. NEARLY 80% OF SILICON VALLEY TECH WORKERS ARE FOREIGN BORN.
7.) ALL STAGE THEMSELVES AS 'POPULIST' BUT IN REALITY ARE CLOSET REPUBLICANS.
8.) ALL ARE DEDICATED TO N.A.F.T.A AS DEMANDED BY THEIR CORPORATE PAYMASTERS. N.A.F.T.A WAS WRITTEN BY GAMER LAWYER PRESIDENT BILLARY CLINTON AND THEN SEN. 'CREDIT CARD' JOE BIDEN. WE KNOW WHAT GAMER LAWYER JOE BIDEN HAS DONE TO WHAT WAS LEFT OF AMERICA.
9.) ALL HAVE BEE ACCUSED OF BEING SOCIOPATHS, AS ARE MOST LAWYERS.
10). BEING GAMER LAWYERS, THEY ARE A PROTECTED WHITE COLLAR CRIMINALS WHO POCKET THE LOOT THEY STEAL AND LAUGH AT THE REST OF US FOR BEING SO FUKING STUPID AS TO HAVE LET THEM RUN THE COUNTRY.... INTO THE GROUND AS THEY FILLED THEIR POCKETS.
HOW MANY OF THESE PIGS ARE GAMER LAWYERS ON THE TAKE?
Scroll back up to restore default view.
By Luc Cohen, Patricia Zengerle and Andrew Goudsward
NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. prosecutors on Friday charged powerful Senator Bob Menendez and his wife with bribery over their relationship with New Jersey businessmen, which could complicate Democrats' efforts to keep their slim majority in the U.S. Senate in next year's elections.
The U.S. Attorney's office in Manhattan accused the defendants of accepting thousands of dollars in bribes in exchange for using Menendez's power and influence as New Jersey's senior senator to seek to protect and enrich the businessmen, and benefit the government of Egypt.
Menendez, the chair of the influential U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, has been an important ally to fellow Democrat Joe Biden as the president has sought to reassert U.S. influence on the world stage, rally support for congressional aid to Ukraine, and push back against a rising China.
The indictment contained an image of gold bars that investigators seized from Menendez's home, as well as envelopes stuffed with cash found inside jackets bearing Menendez's name and hanging in his closet. Prosecutors said they found more than $480,000 in cash in his home.
Prosecutors said that in addition to cash and gold, the bribes also included payments toward a home mortgage, compensation for a job with minimal requirements and a luxury vehicle.
"This investigation is very much ongoing," Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney for Manhattan, said at a press conference. "We are not done. And I want to encourage anyone with information to come forward and to come forward quickly."
Menendez in a statement said prosecutors mischaracterized routine legislative work.
"The excesses of these prosecutors is apparent," Menendez said. "The facts are not as presented."
A lawyer for Nadine Menendez, who has been married to the senator since 2020, said she denied wrongdoing and would "vigorously defend" against the allegations in court.
The investigation marks the third time Menendez has been investigated by federal prosecutors, but he has never been convicted.
The senator and his wife face three criminal counts each: conspiracy to commit bribery, conspiracy to commit honest services fraud and conspiracy to commit extortion under color of official right.
Menendez has said he plans to seek re-election next year, and an investigation could complicate Democrats' effort to expand their slim 51-49 seat majority in the 100-member Senate.
NBC reported that Menendez would step down as chair of the foreign relations committee, but not from the Senate, during the case, citing a person familiar with the matter. Menendez also stepped down temporarily during a previous corruption probe prosecutors ultimately dropped.
The senator and his four co-defendants are expected to appear in Manhattan federal court on Sept. 27.
Prosecutors are seeking to have Menendez forfeit assets including his New Jersey home, a 2019 Mercedes-Benz, and about $566,000 in cash, gold bars, and funds from a bank account.
BUSINESSMEN ALSO CHARGED
The businessmen - Wael Hana, Jose Uribe, and Fred Daibes - were also charged in the scheme.
"We are still reviewing the charges but based upon our initial review, they have absolutely no merit," said a statement from a spokesperson for Hana.
Lawyers for Uribe and Daibes did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Prosecutors said Hana, who is originally from Egypt, arranged dinners and meetings between Menendez and Egyptian officials in 2018 at which the officials pressed Menendez on the status of U.S. military aid. In exchange, Hana put Nadine Menendez on his company's payroll, prosecutors said.
Egypt at the time was one of the largest recipients of U.S. military aid, but the State Department had withheld $195 million in 2017 and canceled an additional $65.7 million until the country could demonstrate improvements on human rights and democracy.
Menendez at a meeting in 2018 told Hana non-public information about the status of the aid, prosecutors said. Hana then texted an Egyptian official, "The ban on small arms and ammunition to Egypt has been lifted," according to the indictment.
Prosecutors said Egypt’s government in 2019 granted one of Hana’s companies an exclusive license to export halal food from the United States to Egypt, despite lacking experience in halal certification. Hana used the proceeds from those exports to fund the bribe payments, according to the indictment.
After the U.S. Department of Agriculture raised concerns about Hana’s monopoly with Egyptian officials due to concerns over high costs to U.S. meat producers, Menendez asked a USDA official to let the company keep its status, prosecutors said.
The official did not comply with Menendez’s demands but the company nonetheless kept its monopoly, according to the indictment.
The Egyptian embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Menendez had previously been charged in New Jersey with accepting private flights, campaign contributions and other bribes from a wealthy patron in exchange for official favors, but a 2017 trial ended in a jury deadlock.
Prosecutors dropped their bribery case in 2018 and Menendez had maintained his innocence. He was also investigated in 2006.
He was first appointed to the chamber in 2006 to replace Jon Corzine, who resigned when he was elected New Jersey's governor. Menendez was re-elected in 2018 to his third term.
The state has not elected a Republican to the Senate since 1972, when Clifford Case was re-elected.
(Reporting by Luc Cohen and Jonathan Stempel in New York; Additional reporting by Simon Lewis and Andrew Goudsward in Washington; Writing by Tom Hals; Editing by Mark Porter)
New Jersey Sen. Menendez, Wife are Indicted on Bribery Charges Seth Wenig/AP WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey and his wife have been indicted on charges of bribery.
Federal prosecutors on Friday announced the charges against the 69-year-old Democrat nearly six years after an earlier criminal case against him ended with a deadlocked jury. The latest indictment is unrelated to the earlier charges that alleged Menendez accepted lavish gifts to pressure government officials on behalf of a Florida doctor.
The Senate Historical Office says Menendez appears to be the first sitting senator in U.S. history to have been indicted on two unrelated criminal allegations. Menendez faces reelection next year in a bid to extend his three-decade career in Washington, and as Democrats hold a narrow majority in the Senate.
A lawyer for Menendez’s wife hasn’t responded to a message seeking comment. Messages were left for Menendez’s Senate spokesperson and his political consultant.
The first time Menendez was indicted, he had been accused of using his political influence to help a Florida eye doctor who had lavished him with gifts and campaign contributions. Menendez appears to be the first sitting senator in U.S. history to have been indicted on two unrelated criminal allegations, according to a list maintained by the Senate Historical Office.
The new charges follow a yearslong investigation that examined, among other things, the dealings of a New Jersey businessman — a friend of Menendez’s wife — who secured sole authorization from the Egyptian government to certify that meat imported into that country meets Islamic dietary requirements. Investigators also asked questions about the Menendez family’s interactions with a New Jersey developer.
Menendez faces re-election next year in a bid to extend his three-decade career in Washington, and as Democrats hold a narrow majority in the Senate.
Menendez’s political career had looked as though it might be over in 2015, when a federal grand jury in New Jersey indicted him on multiple charges over favors he did for a friend, Dr. Salomon Melgen.
Menendez was accused of pressuring government officials to resolve a Medicare billing dispute in Melgen’s favor, securing visas for the doctor’s girlfriends and helping protect a contract the doctor had to provide port-screening equipment to the Dominican Republic.
Menendez has always maintained his innocence. His lawyers said campaign contributions and gifts from Melgen — which included trips on his private jet to a resort in the Dominican Republic and a vacation in Paris — were tokens of their longtime friendship, not bribes.
Prosecutors dropped the case after a jury deadlocked in November 2017 on charges including bribery, fraud and conspiracy, and a judge dismissed some counts.
The Senate Ethics Committee later rebuked Menendez, finding that he had improperly accepted gifts, failed to disclose them and then used his influence to advance Melgen’s personal interests.
But months later, New Jersey voters returned Menendez to the Senate . He defeated a well-financed challenger in a midterm election that broke a Republican lock on power in Washington.
Melgen was convicted of health care fraud in 2017 but former President Donald Trump commuted his prison sentence.
Menendez is widely expected to run for reelection next year.
The son of Cuban immigrants, Menendez has held public office continuously since 1986, when he was elected mayor of Union City, New Jersey. He was a state legislator and spent 14 years in the U.S. House of Representatives. In 2006, Gov. Jon Corzine appointed Menendez to the Senate seat he vacated when he became governor.
At least two other senators — Kay Bailey Hutchinson, R-Texas; Richard Kenney, D-Delaware — were indicted on multiple occasions while still in office, but each senator’s indictments covered overlapping allegations, according to the Senate Historical Office.
Neither Kenney nor Hutchinson were ultimately convicted, and both went on to serve their full terms. In total, 13 senators have been indicted throughout history, of which six have been convicted, according to the Senate Historical Office. Two of those convictions were overturned.
Menendez first publicly disclosed that he was the subject of a new federal investigation last October.
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