In a new development that further tarnishes the reputation of America’s public servants, Democratic Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey is facing federal bribery charges, according to an announcement from the Southern District of New York.

Prosecutors are preparing to unseal the indictment this Friday, spotlighting once again the issue of corruption within the halls of power.

“The indictment will be unsealed at an 11:00 a.m. press event today, charging Robert Menendez, U.S. Senator from New Jersey, and his wife, Nadine Menendez, with bribery offenses related to their corrupt relationship with three New Jersey businessmen,” stated the U.S. attorney’s office.

NBC News 4 revealed on Monday that investigators from both the FBI and the IRS are digging into whether Menendez and his wife accepted up to $400,000 in gold bars from Fred Daibes, a New Jersey developer and former bank chairman. Specifically, they are investigating if this lucrative exchange was in return for Menendez’s outreach to the Justice Department on behalf of Daibes, an “admitted felon” implicated in banking crimes.

The impending indictment contends that Menendez and his wife engaged in corrupt dealings from at least 2018 through 2022 with not just Daibes but also businessmen Wael Hana and Jose Uribe.

Senator Menendez, who holds the significant position of chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, wasn’t simply lining his pockets, according to the charges. The couple is accused of accepting “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 list of alleged bribes is disheartening for any citizen who still clings to the belief that our elected officials should be paragons of integrity. Included in this unsavory list are cash, gold, contributions toward a home mortgage, payment for a cushy low-or-no-show job, a high-end vehicle, and “other things of value.”