Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) has been charged with acting as a foreign agent of Egypt in a superseding indictment unsealed by federal prosecutors in Manhattan on Thursday.
Menendez, his wife, and one of the businessmen involved in the alleged bribery scheme “willfully and knowingly combined, conspired, confederated, and agreed together and with each other to have” Menendez “act as an agent” of the Egyptian government, the indictment said.
Prosecutors allege that Menendez “provided sensitive U.S. Government information and took other steps that secretly aided the Government of Egypt.”
“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 said. Federal authorities reportedly found gold bars and cash stuffed throughout the senator’s home that they traced back to the businessmen Menendez allegedly worked with.
“Over $480,000 in cash — much of it stuffed into envelopes and hidden in clothing, closets, and a safe — was discovered in the home,” the indictment said. Photos included in the indictment included pictures of gold bars and hundred dollars bills that had been stuffed in clothing.
Menendez is also accused of ghost writing a letter to other senators to urge them to support to end a hold on $300 million in military aid to Egypt, a letter that was reportedly written in coordination with his wife and the businessmen in question.
The charges against Menendez are serious and, if proven true, would be a major breach of public trust. As a US senator, Menendez has a duty to represent the interests of his constituents, not the interests of foreign governments.
If convicted, Menendez faces up to 20 years in prison. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The charges against Menendez are serious and, if proven true, would be a major breach of public trust. As a US senator, Menendez has a duty to represent the interests of his constituents, not the interests of foreign governments.
