U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) questions Zalmay Khalilzad, special envoy for Afghanistan Reconciliation, during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, April 27, 2021.
Susan Walsh | Pool | Reuters
U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez of Recent Jersey and his wife Nadine have been indicted in Recent York on federal bribery charges related to their allegedly “corrupt relationship” three businessmen from their home state to guard those men and profit the nation of Egypt.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan has scheduled a press conference for 11 a.m. ET Friday to debate the indictment, which also charges the three businessmen: Wael Hana, Jose Uribe and Fred Daibes.
The indictment says that the Democrat Menendez and his wife from no less than 2018 through 2022 accepted “a whole bunch of hundreds of dollars in bribes in exchange for using Menendez’s power and influence as Senator” to profit the lads and Egypt.
“Those bribes included money, gold, payments toward a house mortgage, compensation for a low-or-no-who job, a luxury vehicle, and other things of value,” in line with the indictment issued by a grand jury in Manhattan federal court.
U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and his wife Nadine Arslanian arrive for a reception honoring of Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and his wife Mareva Mitsotakis within the East Room of the White House on May 16, 2022 in Washington, DC.
Chip Somodevilla | Getty Images
Menendez, who’s up for reelection in 2024, is the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
He and Nadine are charged with three counts: conspiracy to commit bribery, conspiracy to commit honest services fraud, and conspiracy to commit extortion under color of official right.
Hana, Uribe and Daibes are charged with the primary two of those criminal counts.
A phone message left at Menendez’s personal Senate office was not immediately returned. A spokesman for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee didn’t reply to a request for comment from CNBC.
That is breaking news. Please check back for updates.
