Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., has been indicted and charged with corruption for the second time in 10 years.
Menendez and his wife, Nadine Arslanian Menendez, were indicted "in connection with their corrupt relationship with three New Jersey businessmen," according to a statement on X, formerly Twitter, from the U.S. attorney in New York.
They are charged with conspiracy to commit bribery, conspiracy to commit honest services fraud, and conspiracy to commit extortion under color of official right.
Three businessmen from New Jersey − Wael Hana, Jose Uribe and Fred Daibes −have been charged with conspiracy to commit bribery and conspiracy to commit honest services fraud.
The 69-year-old senator and his wife "allegedly accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars of bribes in exchange for using Menendez’s power and influence as a senator to seek to protect and enrich Hana, Uribe, and Daibes and benefit the Government of Egypt," prosecutors said in a news release.
Menendez is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the indictment highlights Egypt being one of the largest recipients of U.S. foreign aid in the world. Between 2018 and 2022, government provided grans totaling more than $1 billion per year in military financing and military sales, according to the indictment.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan will hold a press conference for 11 a.m. Friday to provide more details on the indictment.
Gold bars and $480,000 cash hidden
The indictment describes $480,000 in cash, much of it stuffed into envelopes and hidden in clothing, was bound in Nadine Menendez’s safe deposit box. Pictures of jackets bearing Robert Menendez’s name, whose pockets were stuffed with cash, were included in the indictment.
More than $100,000 in gold bars were found at Menendez's home, which were allegedly provided by either Hana or Daibes, according to the indictment. Two of the bars were shown in pictures in the indictment.
Menendez indicted a second time
This is the second time the New Jersey lawmaker has been indicted. He previously beat corruption charges of alleged bribery with a hung jury in 2018.
At the time, prosecutors said Menendez used his office to benefit a Florida eye doctor in exchange for nearly $1 million in gifts and campaign contributions. Menendez repeatedly defended himself and said he did nothing wrong.
He faced 14 criminal counts, including eight counts of bribery.
Menendez was later cleared of the criminal charges three years later after the Justice Department asked a federal court to dismiss the 2015 indictment.
This story is breaking and will be updated.
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