Democratic Senator Robert Menendez Accused of Bribery

A federal indictment signed by New York Southern District US Attorney Damian Williams released Friday charges New Jersey Democratic Senator Robert Menendez, his wife Nadine, and three alleged accomplices with bribery. The indictment alleges that between 2018 and 2022, Senator Menendez, who is chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and his wife Nadine Menendez engaged in a corrupt relationship with three businesspersons.

Couple Bob Menendez and Nadine Menendez Accused of Bribery, But Why?

Senator Bob Menendez, and Nadine Menendez have denied allegations of wrongdoing.

The raid of the Menendez home in New Jersey by federal agents back in June 2022 and subsequent investigation of the couples’ email and phone accounts uncovered nearly half a million dollars in cash stuffed inside envelopes and stashed inside the pockets of clothing hanging in the closets of the Menendez’s home in Englewood Cliffs, including a big roll of bills in a ongressional Hispanic Caucus jacket with Menendez’s name on it.

Prosecutors claim fingerprints belonging to the driver of co-defendant Fred Daibes were also found on at least one of the envelopes, as well as his DNA and his return address. One of Nadine Menendez’s text to Daibes around Jan. 24, 2022 read “Thank you. Christmas in January.”

Former FBI forensic accountant and current John Jay College of Criminal Justice lecturer Patrice Schiano says the evidence was “pretty damning.” Adding that it doesn’t surprise him that there might be cash hidden in the house because if they took it to the bank it’s going to be reported. Schiano also points out that it’s going to be hard to defend because any jury is going to be like, “That’s a lot of cash in house”.

Co-defendants Jose Uribe and Wael Hana were alleged to have bought the Mercedes-Benz for Menendez’s wife in return for the senator interfering in a state criminal prosecution of an Uribe associate charged with insurance fraud and an investigation of a family member who worked for him.

Nadine Menendez’s text to Uribe read, “You are a miracle worker who makes dreams come true I will always remember that.”

How Did Bob Menendez and Nadine Menendez Become Involved in Bribery?

Prosecutors allege Menendez also helped Hana secure military funding for Egypt in exchange for the promise of a no-show job for his wife. Later, Nadine Menendez forwarded to her husband a request from an Egyptian official to edit a request to the U.S. Senate to support $300 million in aid for Egypt. The Justice Department said the senator then “ghost-wrote the letter on behalf” of the Egyptians and sent the letter from his personal account to his wife’s email. She then forwarded the email to Hana. Not long after, Menendez and his wife deleted those emails.

American University Washington College of Law professor Andrew Guthrie Ferguson says “Almost everyone in this digital age is at risk of having their digital lives revealed by law enforcement investigators”. Ferguson adds, “The fact that someone who should know better allegedly used a digital system to incriminate himself is a testament to how inescapable and commonplace it is to do everything — criminal or not — through a trackable digital system.”

Prosecutors say two days after Menendez had a private meeting with an Egyptian official, Hana bought 22 one-ounce gold bars, with each one having a unique serial number. Two of which were later found in the Menendez home by federal investigators.

Prosecutors also discovered that Menendez did a Google search for “kilo of gold price” on Jan. 29, 2022.