(RepublicanNews.org) – Many would say, “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.” Whether that is or is not the case, New Jersey Senator Robert “Bob” Menendez is on the receiving end of federal corruption charges for the second time in a decade.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman and lifelong Democrat was charged on September 22nd after allegedly taking several hundred thousand dollars in bribes. Unlike other more complex cases where forensic accountants are forced to pour through years of shell company records and overseas banking transactions, a search of Menendez’s home reportedly yielded almost half a million dollars in cash that had been stuffed into envelopes.
Nearly $100,000 in gold bullion was also reportedly found. In addition to being stashed inside his safe, authorities said much of their haul was found casually stuffed inside the pockets of various clothing items belonging to the senator. Federal agents said they found a further $70,000 inside a safety deposit box belonging to Menendez’s wife.
A three-count indictment against the legislator alleges that he tried to use his position on the Foreign Relations Committee to orchestrate an increase in U.S. aid to the nation of Egypt. Federal authorities have suggested the senator’s plan was carried out in tandem with his wife and was arranged through encrypted phone calls, text messages, and in-person dinners.
Menendez’s wife, Nadine Menendez, spent a large portion of her childhood in the Arab world and still has connections in the region. Authorities say she acted as a conduit between her husband and a well-connected American-Egyptian entrepreneur by the name of Wael Hana.
The businessman is reported to have kept close relationships with officials in the Egyptian military and intelligence circles. Menendez’s indictment says that Hana once referred to the New Jersey senator as “our man” when speaking via text message to a high-ranking Egyptian officer.
The previous bribery allegations against the Garden State senator resulted in a deadlocked jury in 2017.
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