Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) announced on Monday that he plans to stay in his Senate seat following charges brought against him by federal prosecutors last week for allegedly accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in exchange for using his position to benefit the Egyptian government.
This is not the senior New Jersey senator's first indictment. In 2015, Menendez was indicted on charges of accepting luxury vacations and gifts and over $600,000 in campaign donations from Dr. Salomon Melgen, who was also indicted.
DEMOCRATS DIVIDED OVER BOB MENENDEZ'S FUTURE IN THE SENATE
The 2015 indictment
The indictment alleged that between January 2006 and January 2013, Menendez accepted flights, vacations, and legal and campaign donations from Melgen that all went undisclosed.
Both men rejected the accusations, and Menendez stepped down as a top-ranking Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee.
“I’m angry because prosecutors at the Justice Department don’t know the difference between friendship and corruption and have chosen to twist my duties as a senator—and my friendship—into something that is improper,” Menendez said in April 2015.
Federal protectors also alleged that in the earlier 2000s, Menendez used his office “to support the visa applications of several of Melgen’s girlfriends.”
In a separate accusation that came before the indictment, occurring days before Menendez was reelected to the Senate in 2012, an anonymous source sent in a tip to media outlets that the senator was paying for underage prostitutes during trips to the Dominican Republic, according to CNN.
The Daily Caller published interviews with two Dominican women who accused Menendez of soliciting sex acts. However, the accusation was never proven, nor was it included in the 68-page indictment from 2015. The women later recanted their story, saying they were paid to make false claims, according to the Washington Post. Menendez also denied the accusations at that time.
In 2017, a Florida jury found Melgen guilty of 67 criminal counts related to Medicare fraud. He was convicted on all counts following an eight-week jury trial and was sentenced to a 17-year prison term. However, former President Donald Trump issued a commutation of sentence to Melgen in 2021, sending him home.
The dual trial for Menendez and Melgen started in September 2017, and two months later, the trial ended with the jury deadlocked. In January 2018, a judge dismissed all charges against the New Jersey senator.
Following the yearslong federal criminal case, the Senate Ethics Committee restarted an investigation into Menendez. Signed by multiple senators, the panel said he “knowingly and repeatedly accepted gifts of significant value from Dr. Melgen without obtaining required Committee approval, and that you failed to publicly disclose certain gifts as required by Senate Rule and federal law. Additionally, while accepting these gifts, you used your position as a Member of the Senate to advance Dr. Melgen’s personal and business interests.”
The trial against Menendez was the first in over three decades to involve a sitting senator facing federal bribery charges, and only 12 other senators have been indicted. Menendez still managed to sail through his reelection that year.
The latest indictment
In May, the Department of Justice launched a criminal investigation into Menendez and wife, Nadine Arslanian, questioning where a Mercedes-Benz, a luxury Washington, D.C., apartment, jewelry, and other assets came from. Investigators were looking into the source of the gifts and if they are connected to a multinational company headquartered in Edgewater that has a contract with the Egyptian government to certify Halal meat despite having no experience in the field.
The latest indictment includes three counts: conspiracy to commit bribery, conspiracy to commit honest services fraud, and conspiracy to commit extortion under color of official right.
In a 39-page indictment, prosecutors named his wife and three businessmen: Fred Daibes, a New Jersey real estate magnate and longtime donor to Menendez; Wael Hana, the halal meat certification company and former insurance agent; and Jose Uribe, a former insurance agent connected to Hana through Union City and who works in the trucking industry.
Menendez was indicted alongside his wife on Friday, the New Jersey senator accused of accepting bribes from three New Jersey businessmen to aid the Egyptian government, along with gold bars and a luxury car. Investigators found more than $480,000 stuffed in a safe, envelopes, and other various places in his home in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.
In his press conference, Menendez said the money was all from his personal savings account and lawfully obtained.
“For 30 years, I have withdrawn thousands of dollars in cash from my personal savings account, which I have kept for emergencies and because of the history of my family facing confiscation in Cuba,” Menendez said. “Now, this may seem old-fashioned, but these were monies drawn from my personal savings accounts based on the income that I have lawfully derived over those 30 years. I look forward to addressing other issues in trial.”
On Friday afternoon, Menendez stepped down as the chairman of the Senate Relations Committee, according to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY). Several Democrats, mainly in the House, have called on Menendez to resign. Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) became the first senator to call for Menendez’s resignation on Saturday.
From his home state, Rep. Andy Kim (D-NJ), a third-term congressman, denounced Menendez’s actions, later saying he’ll run for Senate in 2024 in the wake of the indictment and Menendez's refusal to step down.
However, top Senate Democrats have been reluctant to echo calls for resignation, with Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and multiple others acknowledging the seriousness of the charges but asserting he deserves a fair trial.
On Monday, Menendez called out the members of Congress who suggested he remove himself from the chamber.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“To those who have rushed to judgment, you have done so based on a limited set of facts framed by the prosecution to be as salacious as possible," Menendez said. "Remember, prosecutors get it wrong sometimes."
The 69-year-old Democrat is up for reelection in 2024, although he has yet to launch his campaign.