Robert "Bob" Menendez, the Democrat senior U.S. Senator for New Jersey, was indicted on Friday in the Southern District of New York for engaging — along with his wife Nadine Menendez (Arslanian) — in a "corrupt relationship with three New Jersey associates and businessmen" between 2018 and 2022, according to an unsealed court filing.
According to the indictment, Senator Menendez and his wife "agreed to and did accept hundreds of thousands of dollars of bribes" in return for Menendez's "power and influence as a senator to protect and enrich" the three individuals identified as Wael Hana, Jose Uribe, and Fred Daibes and "to benefit the Arab Republic of Egypt."
Notably, Menendez serves as the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
"Those bribes included cash, gold, payments toward a home mortgage, compensation for a low-or-no-show job, a luxury vehicle, and other things of value," the indictment says, in addition to allegations that Menendez "provided sensitive U.S. Government information and took other steps that secretly aided the Government of Egypt."
More from the 39-page indictment:
This corrupt relationship resulted in ROBERT MENENDEZ, the defendant, promising to take and taking a series of official acts and breaches of official duty in exchange for bribes that benefitted him both directly, and indirectly through NADINE MENENDEZ, ida “Nadine Arslanian,” the defendant. First, MENENDEZ promised to and did use his influence and power and breach his official duty in ways that benefited the Government of Egypt and WAEL HANA, a/k/a “Will Hana,” the defendant, an Egyptian-American businessman, among others. Among other actions, MENENDEZ provided sensitive U.S. Government information and took other steps that secretly aided the Government of Egypt. MENENDEZ also improperly advised and pressured an official at the United States Department of Agriculture for the purpose of protecting a business monopoly granted to HANA by Egypt and used in part to fund the bribes being paid to MENENDEZ through NADINE MENENDEZ. Second, MENENDEZ promised to and did use his influence and power and breach his official duty to seek to disrupt a criminal investigation and prosecution undertaken by the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office related to JOSE URIBE, the defendant, and his associates. Third, MENENDEZ promised to and did use his influence and power and breach his official duty to recommend that the President nominate an individual as U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey who MENENDEZ believed could be influenced by MENENDEZ with respect to the federal criminal prosecution of FRED DAIBES, the defendant, and to seek to disrupt that same prosecution.
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When search warrants for the Menendez home and a safe deposit box were executed in June 2022, federal agents found the "fruits" of the alleged bribery agreement including more than $480,000 in cash "much of it stuffed into envelopes and hidden in clothing, closets, and a safe," with some envelopes containing "the fingerprints and/or DNA of Daibes or his driver."
The 2022 search also turned up "home furnishings provided by Hana, the luxury vehicle paid for by Uribe parked in the garage, as well as over one hundred thousand dollars' worth of gold bars in the home, which were provided by either Hana or Daibes."
A previous federal corruption case against Senator Menendez in 2017 ended in a mistrial, apparently right around the time he started up the allegedly corrupt scheme at issue in the latest indictment.
At time of publication, Senator Menendez had not issued a public response.
The full indictment can be viewed below:
This is a developing story and may be updated.
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