Senator Bob Menendez (D., N.J.) on Tuesday was indicted for a fourth time on more than a dozen new charges related to his involvement in a years-long bribery scheme with the governments of Egypt and Qatar.
Menendez and his co-defendants were hit with a total of 18 conspiracy and obstruction of justice charges. The senator’s wife, Nadine, and two New Jersey businessmen, Wael Hana and Fred Daibes, were also charged in the new 68-page superseding indictment.
Menendez previously faced four counts of conspiracy to commit bribery, conspiracy to commit honest services fraud, conspiracy to commit extortion under color of official right, and conspiracy for a public official to act as a foreign agent. The new charges included these counts.
The latest superseding indictment in the case comes days after Jose Uribe, a fellow New Jersey businessman who was previously indicted, pleaded guilty and promised to cooperate in the foreign-bribery investigation into the senator.
“In truth and in fact, and as Menendez and Nadine Menendez well knew, the funds Uribe provided to Nadine Menendez (including the cash Uribe provided to her in the parking lot) were not a loan, but bribe payments,” the new court filing states.
Since the Department of Justice publicized the initial indictment in September, Menendez has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing on his part and pleaded not guilty to the federal corruption charges. He was accused of pocketing over $100,000 worth of gold bars and nearly $500,000 in cash, among other luxurious gifts found in his New Jersey home, in exchange for political influence that benefited the Arab Republic of Egypt and enriched three New Jersey businessmen.
“Menendez and Nadine Menendez agreed to and did accept 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 to benefit the Arab Republic of Egypt,” the first indictment reads. “Among other actions, Menendez provided sensitive U.S. government information and took other steps that secretly aided the Government of Egypt.”
Prosecutors then filed a superseding indictment in October accusing the Democratic senator of acting as a foreign agent for Egypt, while a January indictment alleged he abused his position on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to benefit Qatar. In exchange for friendly treatment, he allegedly received bribes in cash, gold bars, and tickets to the Formula One Grand Prix race.