Gold Bars and Luxury Cars: Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) is Charged with More Bribery Offenses
After stepping down as the chair from his powerful committee, the pressure is mounting for him to resign altogether
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🗞 MENENDEZ HIT WITH BRIBERY & CORRUPTION CHARGES (AGAIN)
Senator Bob Menendez — the powerful, long-standing Democratic senator from New Jersey — is temporarily stepping down from his position as the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman after being indicted Friday on federal bribery charges, for the second time in 10 years (although prosecutors say there are big differences this time around).
WHAT IS HE ACCUSED OF?
According to the indictment, Senator Menendez and his wife Nadine improperly accepted significant bribes in exchange for using his power as the Senate Foreign Relations Chair to increase U.S. assistance to Egypt (military equipment and financing), and to benefit three New Jersey businessmen: Wael Hana, who founded a halal meet certification company, Jose Uribe, a former insurance agent, and Fred Daibes, a prominent NJ builder. The details of the allegations are damning.
As the NYTimes puts it: Menendez is accused of taking bribes in exchange for helping protect Egypt’s access to billions in U.S. aid.
The bribes, beginning as early as 2018, included more than $500,000 in cash, and gifts like jewelry, use of a Mercedes-Benz, a luxury apartment, mortgage payments, and gold bars worth as much as $400,000. The indictment says that after a trip to Egypt in October 2021, Menendez googled “how much is one kilo of gold worth.”
CHARGES
The Menendez’s are charged with three counts:
Conspiracy to commit bribery
Conspiracy to commit honest services fraud
Conspiracy to commit extortion under color of official right (meaning they leveraged Menendez’s role as a U.S. Senator to influence someone to give them something of value)
Menendez insists he is innocent, calling the allegations “baseless” and accusing the federal prosecutors in Manhattan who brought the case of misinterpreting routine congressional work.
“It is not lost on me how quickly some are rushing to judge a Latino and push him out of his seat. I am not going anywhere.”
Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ)
CALLS TO RESIGN GET LOUDER
Democrats and Republicans can agree on one thing: they want Senator Menendez to step down — saying they no longer have confidence in him to be a public servant or weigh in on national policy, and they’ve used some choice words:
NJ Governor Phil Murphy called for Senator Menendez’s immediate resignation amid “deeply disturbing” allegations. “These are serious charges that implicate national security and the integrity of our criminal justice system… the alleged facts are so serious that they compromise the ability of Senator Menendez to effectively represent the people of our state,” he said.
Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie, formerly the Governor of New Jersey, called the allegations "sickening." But Christie ruled out running for his seat.
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) called the allegations a “profound betrayal” and demanded his immediate resignation.
Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN) told CNN: “Yes, I am a Democrat and so is Sen. Menendez, but based on what I have seen, I am disappointed and yes, I think he should resign."
The charges are also motivating primary challengers. Rep Andy Kim (D-NJ) has already announced his intent to challenge the Senator when he is up for re-election next year.
The list goes on. But surprisingly, fellow NJ Senator Cory Booker has not yet commented on the charges. Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) was the first senator to speak out, calling for his resignation.
WHO IS NADINE MENENDEZ?
Senator Bob Menendez’s wife of three years, Nadine Menendez was described in the indictment as the “intermediary” between her husband and the three NJ businessmen, who she was friends with before meeting her now-husband. The indictment claims Nadine attended and helped facilitate the meetings between Senator Menendez and Egyptian officials where prosecutors say the couple traded their power for bribes. In March 2020 she allegedly texted an Egyptian official, “anytime you need anything, you have my number and we will make everything happen.”
✔︎ Mo News Reality Check: This is the second indictment Menendez has faced since he was elected to the Senate in 2006. In 2015, he was charged with illegally accepting favors from a Florida eye doctor, including flights on a private jet, three nights at a five-star hotel in Paris, and more than $700,000 in political contributions. The case ended in a mistrial after jurors were unable to reach a unanimous verdict, and federal prosecutors decided not to retry him.
Menendez is once again battling for his political life. His advisors say he’s still planning to run for re-election in 2024. This trial could come in the middle of his campaign, an unwanted distraction. And this time around, nearly every major Democratic figure in NJ has already called on him to resign. So it’s still not clear whether he can survive this scandal.
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🗓 ON THIS DAY: SEPTEMBER 25
1789: The first U.S. Congress adopted the amendments that became the Bill of Rights.
1890: The Sequoia National Park was established as a U.S. National Park in Central California.
1978: Melissa Ludtke, a writer for "Sports Illustrated", filed a suit in U.S. District Court. The result was that Major League Baseball could not bar female writers from the locker room after the game.
2001: Michael Jordan announced he would return to the NBA as a player for the Washington Wizards.