A federal grand jury indicted Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez on Friday on charges he accepted bribes from three New Jersey businessmen in exchange for favors that would benefit the trio and secretly aid the country of Egypt.
Prosecutors allege Mr. Menendez, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the 10th in seniority in the Democrats’ slim Senate majority, engaged in a “corrupt” relationship with Wael Hana, Jose Uribe and Fred Daibes — a fund-raiser for Mr. Menendez — from 2018 to 2022, using his power and influence to benefit the men in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes for the senator and his wife, Nadine.
“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, filed in the U.S. District Court of Southern New York, said.
The indictment outlines in stunning detail how a June 2022 raid uncovered the fruits of the alleged bribes in a safe deposit box in the couple’s home.
“Over $480,000 in cash — much of it stuffed into envelopes and hidden in clothing, closets, and a safe — was discovered in the home, along with over $70,000 in Nadine Menendez’s safe deposit box,” the indictment says. “Some of the envelopes contained the fingerprints and/or DNA of Daibes or his driver.”
Cash was also stuffed into the pockets of Mr. Menendez’s clothes, the indictment says, and at one point the senator allegedly did a Web search for “how much is one kilo of gold worth.”
The indictment also includes pictures of the couple and alleged co-conspirators enjoying a celebratory dinner together.
Mr. Menendez accused prosecutors of manipulating the facts to fit their needs and vowed to beat the charges.
“The excesses of these prosecutors is apparent. They have misrepresented the normal work of a congressional office. On top of that, not content with making false claims against me, they have attacked my wife for the longstanding friendships she had before she and I even met,” he said. “Those behind this campaign simply cannot accept that a first-generation Latino American from humble beginnings could rise to be a U.S. senator and serve with honor and distinction. Even worse, they see me as an obstacle in the way of their broader political goals.”
An attorney for Ms. Menendez, David Schertler, said she “denies any wrongdoing and will defend vigorously against these allegations in court.”
With the support of three independents, Senate Democrats now hold a 51-49 seat edge over Republicans.
Under Senate rules, Mr. Menendez will have to relinquish his gavel as committee chairman while he combats the charges, although he can still serve on the panel.
The White House declined to comment on the case, including whether the senator should resign.
“This is an active matter. We learned about this just like all of you,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. “Again, this is an active matter, so I’m not going to comment.”
Mr. Menendez, 69, has served in the Senate since 2006. He was indicted in 2015 on charges related to gifts from donor Salomon Melgen. A jury was unable to reach a verdict, but the Senate Ethics Committee later issued a rebuke of the lawmaker, concluding that he had improperly accepted gifts, failed to disclose them and then used his influence to advance the donor’s personal interests.
Mr. Menendez went on to win another six-year term in the Senate in 2018.
“They thought they had him in the Salomon Melgen case and he convinced a jury that he was just doing constituent service,” said Ross Baker, a politics professor at Rutgers University, though added: “Maybe gold bars are a bridge too far.”
The new indictment outlines a series of unusually detailed and extravagant allegations of graft against the powerful senator, a leading voice on foreign policy for congressional Democrats.
It alleges Mr. Menendez worked with Mr. Hana and Egyptian officials to discuss military aid for the nation and disclosed non-public information about embassy personnel to his wife and Mr. Hana as part of a scheme to get Nadine Menendez a no-show job at Mr. Hana’s company.
“Although this information was not classified, it was deemed highly sensitive because it could pose significant operational security concerns if disclosed to a foreign government or if made public,” the indictment says.
The indictment includes instances in which the senator held meetings with Egyptian officials or disclosed his thinking on U.S. aid in messages to his wife and Mr. Hana.
Mr. Mendendez, the indictment alleges, advised and pressured an official at the U.S. Department of Agriculture to protect a halal-meat business monopoly given to Mr. Hana by Egypt and promised to wield his power to influence an investigation by the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office into Mr. Uribe, who worked in trucking and insurance businesses.
The indictment says Mr. Uribe offered to buy a Mercedes-Benz C-300 convertible for the couple in exchange for their efforts to disrupt an investigation into Mr. Uribe’s associates. Prosecutors included photos of the black vehicle in the indictment.
Third, the indictment alleges the senator urged President Biden to nominate a lawyer, Philip R. Sellinger, as U.S. attorney for New Jersey, thinking he might be vulnerable to influence in the federal criminal prosecution of Mr. Daibes.
Mr. Sellinger was confirmed to the post but has not been accused of wrongdoing. He was recused from dealing with the Daibes matter.
The indictment underscores the sensitivity of the allegations targeting a sitting senator. Mr. Menendez’s official website says the office cannot intervene in criminal matters or business transactions.
“We allege that behind the scenes, Sen. Menendez was doing those things for certain people — the people who were bribing him and his wife,” said Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.
The indictment charges all five defendants with conspiracy to commit bribery and charges. Mr. Menendez and his wife are also facing charges of conspiracy to commit honest services fraud and conspiracy to commit extortion under color of official right.
“This investigation is very much ongoing,” Mr. Williams said. “We are not done.”
The New Jersey Republican State Committee said Mr. Menendez’s political career, however, should be over.
“While we acknowledge the Senator’s presumption of innocence and right to a fair trial, it is clear that his decade-long legal woes have become an embarrassing distraction,” NJGOP spokeswoman Alexandra Wilkes said. “For the good of the people of this state, who deserve full and devoted representation, we call on Senator Robert Menendez to resign.”
The National Republican Senatorial Committee called the senator a “disgrace.”
“Democrats covered for Menendez the first time he got indicted for corruption,” the NRSC said. “It would be a shame if they did so again.”
Under New Jersey state law, Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy would pick a successor to fill out Mr. Menendez’s term if the criminal case forced him to resign. The senator’s current term ends in 2024.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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