(USNewsBreak.com) – Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) is no stranger to scandals. They have plagued him throughout his political career. However, the recent charges against him and his wife, related to bribery and conspiracy, might be some of the most serious he’s faced. Now, federal prosecutors have indicted him on even more counts.
Indictment Charges
The Department of Justice (DOJ) indicted Menendez and his wife, Nadine, in September 2023. Prosecutors charged the senator with a single count of conspiracy to commit bribery, a single count of conspiracy to commit honest services fraud, and a single count of conspiracy to commit extortion under color of official right. They charged his wife with the same. The DOJ added another charge at a later date: conspiracy for a public official to act as a foreign agent.
Now, Menendez is facing 18 charges, as a recent superseding indictment added on obstruction charges for lying to their attorneys who misrepresented — although inadvertently — the arrangement between the Menendezes and the business associates named in the indictment.
Defendant Appears in Court
One of the defendants charged at the same time as the Menendezes, Jose Uribe, appeared in court on Friday, March 1. He pleaded guilty to bribery charges and agreed to testify against the New Jersey senator and his wife. During his appearance, he admitted that he purchased a luxury vehicle, a Mercedes-Benz, for Nadine because of her husband’s efforts to stop criminal investigations into two of Uribe’s associates for insurance fraud.
Uribe testified that he assured Mrs. Menendez that he would say the vehicle was a loan, to which she allegedly responded, “that sound[s] good.” The businessman said he knew his actions were wrong and apologized.
Prosecutors claim that the Menendezes, realizing they were under investigation, constructed a plan to repay Jose Uribe for the vehicle he purchased, classifying payments they received from him as a “loan.” DOJ lawyers allege the story was a lie and the payments were bribes for the senator using his political position to help Uribe and his associates.
Trial Date
The court has scheduled a trial date of May 6 for the Menendezes. Prosecutors don’t expect the superseding indictment charges to delay the trial. Menendez has adamantly declared his innocence. He insisted in a statement that the slew of new charges against him were “a flagrant abuse of power,” per The New York Times. He went on to say that the government “will stop at nothing in their zeal to get [him]” and that it had “long known that [Senator Menendez] learned of and helped repay loans — not bribes — that had been provided to [his] wife.”
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