Prosecutors leveled new allegations of bribery against embattled Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) on Tuesday, this time accusing him of taking cash and gold bars to help the government of Qatar.
U.S. Attorney Damien Williams said in a 50-page superseding indictment that Menendez accepted the bribes from a New Jersey real estate developer with the promise that he would "induce" a Qatari company to invest millions in one of the developer's projects.
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The superseding indictment does not include any new charges aside from the four that Menendez is already facing over allegations he aided the government of Egypt, but it does contain the revelation about Qatar and alleges that Menendez was partaking in bribery acts as recently as 2023.
The indictment stated that in one instance, Menendez allegedly drafted positive remarks about Qatar in a press release and sent a copy of the remarks over an encrypted messaging app to the developer, Fred Daibes. Daibes then allegedly forwarded the remarks to a Qatari official, all while the Qatari investment company was considering the multimillion-dollar investment in Daibes's project.
When Menendez sent the draft to Daibes, he allegedly wrote, "You might want to send to them. I am just about to release."
Meanwhile, Daibes was allegedly gifting Menendez and his wife, Nadine, who is also charged in the indictment, with gold bars worth thousands of dollars.
Among other accusations, Menendez also privately encouraged Daibes and the Qatari company's deal to move forward, attended a secret dinner with Qataris and Daibes, and, in the same month that the Qatari company signaled it would participate in the venture with Daibes, requested four 2022 Formula One Grand Prix tickets from a Qatari official to be given to a relative.
Menendez never declared any of the gifts or payments on his Senate disclosure forms, according to the indictment.
Menendez, the former Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman, was originally charged in the fall over allegations he accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes to use his influential political position to benefit the Egyptian government.
He was forced to step down as chairman because of the charges, but he remains on the committee as a member and has refused to resign from the Senate despite bipartisan calls from his colleagues for him to do so.
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He has pleaded not guilty to the charges, and his trial is currently scheduled for May.
Read the new indictment in full below: