2023-09-22 22:37:12
Democratic Senator Bob Menéndez and his wife, Nadine Menéndez, were accused of accepting “hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes” in exchange for “protecting and enriching businessmen and benefiting the Government of Egypt,” announced this Friday (09/22/2023) the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, which is handling the case once morest the New Jersey congressman.
“Senator Menendez used his power and influence, including his leadership role on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, to benefit the Government of Egypt in various ways; among other actions, he allegedly provided confidential information to the Government of Egypt. EU to Egyptian officials and took steps to secretly assist the Egyptian government,” said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams.
According to the Prosecutor’s Office, the family received bribes from at least 2018 to 2022 in the form of cash, gold, mortgage payments, a job that required almost no presence for Nadine, and a vehicle. Mercedes Benz. Williams also noted that when FBI agents searched the senator’s residence and safe they found “approximately $500,000 in cash, stuffed in envelopes and cabinets” and that “some of the money was stuffed in the senator’s jacket pockets.” .
Nadine and Bob Menéndez.Image: Susan Walsh/AP Photo/picture alliance
They don’t want him because he’s Latin, he says
Menéndez, 69, of Cuban descent and born in New York, is a veteran of Washington politics. A Democratic legislator from New Jersey in the House of Representatives between 1993 and 2006, and then a senator, he is one of the most influential voices on diplomatic issues in the US capital.
The senator strongly disputed the allegations. “For years, actors behind the scenes have tried to silence me and bury me politically,” he denounced in a press release. “Those behind this campaign simply cannot accept that a first-generation Latin American from humble origins can become a United States senator and serve with honor and distinction,” the politician said.
Menendez and his wife are charged with three counts: conspiracy to commit bribery, conspiracy to commit fraud in the honest rendering of services and conspiracy to commit extortion under color of official right. Prosecutor Williams called for support in the investigation. “I want to encourage anyone who has information to come forward and do so quickly,” he said.
This is the second case that has been opened once morest the Democrat in less than ten years. In 2015 was accused of corruptionbut his trial was canceled due to lack of a unanimous jury verdict.
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