Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) is already engulfed in legal drama stemming from bribes taken by Egyptian officials and acting as a foreign agent. He pleaded not guilty to the charges last September, confident that the truth would come out and he would be vindicated. This indictment isn’t Bob’s first time getting pinched in a federal corruption probe. His colleagues want nothing to do with him.
Menendez’s first corruption trial didn’t have this laundry list of items found at his residence that doesn’t support any claim of innocence. We have over $400,000 stuffed in articles of clothing, along with the gold bars—a seized asset that many of his allies find indefensible. Now, we have this new Qatari connection in a new indictment against the New Jersey Democrat (via NBC News):
U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) hit with new charges, accused of making positive comments about Qatar in exchange for high-value items, including watches pic.twitter.com/ppGz8JSoao
— BNO News (@BNONews) January 2, 2024
Senator Bob Menendez, previously charged with using his influence to help the government of Egypt, has now been charged with aiding the Qatari government.
— Jon Cooper (@joncoopertweets) January 2, 2024
I think Menendez should be expelled from the Senate — just like George Santos was expelled from the House. Who agrees? pic.twitter.com/XHO48JrciB
Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) is facing a new set of federal bribery allegations in a superseding indictment unsealed Tuesday that accuses him of providing assistance to the government of Qatar as well as Egypt. https://t.co/LTzBTtMAEL
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) January 3, 2024
A federal grand jury has filed a second superseding indictment against Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., following previous allegations of accepting bribes.
The new allegations say Menendez made positive statements about Qatar to help a New Jersey developer get a multimillion-dollar investment from a company tied to the country. The developer cited in the indictment is Fred Daibes, who has also been charged in the case.
During the time of the discussions in late 2021 into 2022 for the investment in the deal, Menendez allegedly made a number of statements supportive of Qatar.
“Menendez provided Daibes with these statements so that Daibes could share them with the Qatari Investor and a Qatari government official associated with the Qatari Investment Company,” the indictment says.
Prosecutors allege that Daibes exchanged text messages with Menendez about the alleged scheme. In September 2021, Daibes sent Menendez, via an encrypted app, photos taken from Daibes' computer of luxury watches valued from $9,990 to $23,990 and asked Menendez “how about one of those,” according to prosecutors.
[…]
The new indictment indicates that federal prosecutors reviewed web searches by Menendez after he returned in October 2021 from a trip to Qatar, where, they allege, Menendez searched “how much is one kilo of gold worth.”
It was Menendez who introduced Daibes to the unnamed Qatari investor, who is a member of the Qatari royal family, according to the indictment.
The Qatari company struck a deal to invest with Daibes after a May 2022 meeting with him and Menendez, and Daibes gave Menendez "at least one gold bar" afterwards, the indictment said.
Hence, the nickname ‘gold bar Bob,’ which Menendez coincidentally shares with his new attorney, Robert Luskin. A client of Luskin paid his bill with gold bars. There have been calls for Menendez to resign, something he refuses to do. Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) has called for his ousting, claiming that Menendez’s deeds were far worse than anything committed by George Santos, the Long Island Republican congressman who got expelled on December 1.