NJ - Sen. Bob Menendez and his wife, Nadine, indicted on bribery charges, Sept 2023

[sds71]

The indictment accuses Menendez and his wife of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars of bribes in exchange for using the senator's power and influence to seek to protect and enrich the businessman.

"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 said

Sen. Bob Menendez indicted over gifts of gold bars, car, apartment

A federal grand jury in New York has returned an indictment against United States Sen. Bob Menendez, chairman of the powerful Foreign Relations committee.

abcnews.go.com

Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez indicted on federal bribery charges

The indictment charges Sen. Robert Menendez and his wife, Nadine Menendez, with bribery offenses, according to the Justice Department.

www.cbsnews.com

 

[sds71]

​

US Attorney SDNY

@SDNYnews


Statement of U.S. Attorney Damian Williams on today's indictment of Senator Robert Menendez, his wife, and three New Jersey businessmen: "As the grand jury charged, between 2018 and 2022, Senator Menendez and his wife engaged in a corrupt relationship with Wael Hana, Jose Uribe, and Fred Daibes – three New Jersey businessmen who collectively paid hundreds of thousands of dollars of bribes, including cash, gold, a Mercedes Benz, and other things of value


in exchange for Senator Menendez agreeing to use his power and influence to protect and enrich those businessmen and to benefit the Government of Egypt.


My Office is firmly committed to rooting out corruption, without fear or favor, and without any regard to partisan politics. We will continue to do so.”

DocumentCloud

www.documentcloud.org

Gold bars, cash, and an air purifier: The 8 alleged bribes Sen. Bob Menendez and his wife took, ranked

The New Jersey senator helped Egypt in exchange for gold bars, a Mercedes-Benz, and other cool stuff, according to federal prosecutors.

www.businessinsider.com

 

[acutename]

Gifts - U.S. Senate Select Committee on Ethics

www.ethics.senate.gov

 

[Inthedetails]

Adam Klasfeld

@KlasfeldReports
·
1h

“Senate Rules Require Indicted Sen. Menendez to Give Up Chairmanship of Foreign Relations Committee”

https://twitter.com/x/status/1705256003002830931

 

[Inthedetails]

BBM:
https://twitter.com/hugolowell
Hugo Lowell

@hugolowell


NEW YORK (AP) — US Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey and his wife were indicted Friday on charges that they took bribes of cash, gold bars and a luxury car for corrupt acts, including having the Democrat use his influence over foreign affairs to benefit the government of Egypt.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1705225684040196177

 

[Curiousobserver]

The indictment is an interesting read. While the indictment does not go so far as to state this, it strongly implies that the single Senator was "honey-potted" by his now wife on behalf of the Egyptian intelligence services and corrupt businesses.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/22/politics/read-bob-menendez-indictment-document/index.html

 

[Marysmith]

Unbelievable. I hope they both rot in jail for the rest of their lives if this true.

 

[Curiousobserver]

In his last trial, the Senator characterized his dealings as part of the ordinary work of being a Senator- lobbying the government for benefits to the constituents of your district and state... People who are long time friends will of course have their concerns heard more often and perhaps be more top-of-mind.

If it goes to trial it will be interesting. Neither the Senator nor his wife have to prove that all the gold and cash came from legitimate sources, the government needs to prove it didn't. That could be a difficult linkage to make.

 

[acutename]

In his last trial, the Senator characterized his dealings as part of the ordinary work of being a Senator- lobbying the government for benefits to the constituents of your district and state... People who are long time friends will of course have their concerns heard more often and perhaps be more top-of-mind.

If it goes to trial it will be interesting. Neither the Senator nor his wife have to prove that all the gold and cash came from legitimate sources, the government needs to prove it didn't. That could be a difficult linkage to make.

the indictment seems to say that they can trace some of the gold bars and the car acquistion is supposedly the subject of emails. I do not know how they can trace cash- guess there could be serial #s. The link I posted above covers what is supposed to be reported and what exceptions there are. NM became "wife" in October 2020, so not sure what things she owned or owns are part of the problem or the solution.

 

[Inthedetails]

Direct link to indictment: DocumentCloud

 

[Inthedetails]

The indictment is an interesting read. While the indictment does not go so far as to state this, it strongly implies that the single Senator was "honey-potted" by his now wife on behalf of the Egyptian intelligence services and corrupt businesses.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/22/politics/read-bob-menendez-indictment-document/index.html

Yes, reading the indictment and it does looks like he was targeted...and it looks like he was more than willing to participate in corruption. Yuck.

jmo

 

[Marysmith]

Yes, reading the indictment and it does looks like he was targeted...and it looks like he was more than willing to participate in corruption. Yuck.

jmo

Yep. Both acted out of greed and entitlement. IMO.

 

[ilovewings]

Unbelievable. I hope they both rot in jail for the rest of their lives if this true.

So greedy--all the perks of his position--but it wasnt enough--'fools both of them

 

[Cryptic]

So greedy--all the perks of his position--but it wasnt enough--'fools both of them

Perks are good, but pay is low in the US Senate.

And.... one is surrounded by millionaires, or even billionaires <modsnip>. The Senate has always been a "rich guy / girls club.

Not every Senator is wealthy from their previous career, olde money, or marriage into money of any sort, but many are.

Thus, illegally obtaining the ability to at least somewhat "keep up with the Jones" regarding life styles may get tempting.

 

[sds71]

GaryGrumbach

NJ Gov. Phil Murphy calls on @SenatorMenendez to resign

 

[Marysmith]

Perks are good, but pay is low in the US Senate.

And.... one is surrounded by millionaires, or even billionaires<modsnip>. The Senate has always been a "rich guy / girls club.

Not every Senator is wealthy from their previous career, olde money, or marriage into money of any sort, but many are.

Thus, illegally obtaining the ability to at least somewhat "keep up with the Jones" regarding life styles may get tempting.

Pay is like $174,000 or so. That’s high to me anyways!
Menendez has been accused twice before as well, charged one of those times and it resulted in a mistrial… so he was probably an easy target, IMO.

 

[Cryptic]

Pay is like $174,000 or so. That’s high to me anyways!
Menendez has been accused twice before as well, charged one of those times and it resulted in a mistrial… so he was probably an easy target, IMO.

I agree, the pay is high by many people's standards, including mine. I should have said "relatively low" for hi cost of living DC

As a side note, they also need to maintain two homes: One in their home state and the other in DC. DC rents in safe areas anywhere near the Capitol building get insane fast.

As a result, the 174K may go rather fast.

 

[Inthedetails]

I agree, the pay is high by many people's standards, including mine. I should have said "relatively low" for hi cost of living DC

As a side note, they also need to maintain two homes: One in their home state and the other in DC. DC rents in safe areas anywhere near the Capitol building get insane fast.

As a result, the 174K may go rather fast.

I'm sure that we all agree that no matter what they are paid, we can fully expect elected officials to NOT take bribes that benefit a foreign country.

The position is of public servant. The job is not meant to be especially lucrative.

jmo

 

[Inthedetails]

Visas for lovers, private jets and villas: Inside bribery case Sen. Bob Menendez beat

Charges of taking gold bars are not the New Jersey Democrat’s first corruption charges. In 2018 he beat claims of lavish bribes and eye-popping revelations about mistresses, nudity and privat…

nypost.com

 

[acutename]

Perks are good, but pay is low in the US Senate.

And.... one is surrounded by millionaires, or even billionaires <modsnip>. The Senate has always been a "rich guy / girls club.

Not every Senator is wealthy from their previous career, olde money, or marriage into money of any sort, but many are.

Thus, illegally obtaining the ability to at least somewhat "keep up with the Jones" regarding life styles may get tempting.

pretty sure lobbyists and others are always offering things too and asking for favors - and I would not put it past opponents to offer something and report a person for taking it IMO but he has been a senator for 17 yrs so not a naive person