For the second time in a decade, U.S. Senator Bob Menendez faces a corruption trial on Monday, putting his political career and freedom at risk in a criminal case that has already pushed him out of one of Congress’ most influential positions.
The 70-year-old New Jersey Democrat and his wife are accused of accepting bribes from three wealthy businessmen in his home state in exchange for a variety of favors, including interfering with criminal investigations and taking measures that benefited the Egyptian and Qatari governments.
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Menendez’s lawyers argue he followed the rules and did nothing unlawful. He has expressed hope that he will run for reelection in the summer if acquitted.
Even if he escapes without a conviction, as he did in a previous corruption case in 2017, the damage to his reputation might make a political comeback difficult.
The FBI officers searching the senator’s New Jersey home discovered a stockpile of gold bars worth more than $100,000 and more than $486,000 in cash, some of which were put into the pockets of garments hanging in his closets.
His fellow Democrats in Washington, D.C., appear to have written him off, repeatedly urging him to leave.
“The evidence against him is vivid,” said Dan Cassino, executive director of the Fairleigh Dickinson University survey. “This isn’t paperwork or checks; these are gold bars. “The visuals are stunning, and given how little New Jerseyans know about their elected leaders, this may be the only thing they know about Menendez.”
Menendez has continued his uncompromising approach.
He declared, “I am innocent and will prove it no matter how many charges they continue to pile on,” following the revision of his indictment in early March to include allegations that he attempted to obstruct the probe.
Last October, charges of bribery, fraud, extortion, and acting as Egypt’s foreign agent forced Menendez to resign as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
According to court documents, the senator’s lawyers plan to partially defend him by claiming that his wife, Nadine, concealed her interactions with the businessmen involved in the case from him.
One of them, Jose Uribe, has pleaded guilty and is expected to testify. They accused him of buying a Mercedes-Benz for Nadine Menendez, who had totaled her previous vehicle after hitting and killing a man crossing the street. She did not face any criminal charges in relation to the fatal incident.
According to prosecutors, Sen. Menendez attempted to help Uribe twice by influencing criminal investigations involving his business connections.
Another man, Wael Hana, is accused of paying Menendez in exchange for assisting him in obtaining a lucrative contract with the Egyptian government to certify that imported meat satisfied Islamic dietary standards. Prosecutors assert that Menendez gained favor with Egyptian officials by writing a letter to his fellow senators, urging them to lift a block on $300 million in military aid.
Authorities claimed that Menendez also persuaded a US agriculture official to stop opposing Hana’s company as the sole halal certifier.
The third businessman, real estate developer Fred Daibes, is accused of bringing gold bars and cash to Menendez and his wife in order to persuade the senator to use his influence to assist him in obtaining a multimillion-dollar contract with a Qatari investment fund, as well as performing measures that benefited Qatar’s government.
A medical condition has postponed Nadine Menendez’s trial until at least July, despite her and her husband’s indictment. Her actions, however, will be critical to the story that prosecutors will present to jurors through dozens of witnesses during a trial that is expected to last up to two months.
The three-term senator has held positions at all levels of government in New Jersey. He began his career in the rough-and-tumble political world of Hudson County, an area across from Manhattan known for powerful party leaders.
Two years out of high school, Menendez won an election to the Union City school board in 1974. In 2006, after serving in the New Jersey State Assembly, the Senate, and the United States House, Jon Corzine resigned to become governor, appointing him to the Senate. He won the election later that year.
In 2015, allegations against a wealthy Florida eye doctor accused of buying Menendez’s influence with lavish trips and campaign contributions caused his political career its first significant setback.
Menendez vehemently refuted the claims and promised not to leave the Senate. A trial in 2017 resulted in a deadlock, and federal prosecutors in New Jersey dropped the case.
Menendez not only stayed in Congress, but also secured reelection and maintained his position as the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee. He married Nadine Menendez in 2020, after dating for two years.
Menendez has stayed in the Senate with this fresh charge, refusing calls to resign before his six-year term expires on January 3. Although he has stated that he will not compete for reelection as a Democrat, he has left open the idea of running as an independent. That could complicate matters for Democrats, who have a razor-thin margin in the United States Senate and cannot afford a three-way race in New Jersey, a Democratic stronghold.
Unlike in 2015, his party has mostly abandoned him. Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy and others urged him to quit. Democratic Rep. Andy Kim announced a campaign for his seat the day after Menendez’s indictment.
Judge Sidney H. Stein has dismissed Menendez’s assertion that legislative immunity shields him from the allegations.
The judge has yet to rule on whether the defense can call a psychiatrist to demonstrate that Menendez habitually stored cash in his home as a “fear of scarcity” response to family stories about how their savings were confiscated during the Communist revolution in Cuba, before he was born, and as a result of financial problems caused by his father’s gambling problem, a struggling carpenter.
