Senator Robert Menendez Indicted With Additional Conspiracy Charge
Senator Menendez was indicted for a second charge following the first one in late September, accusing him of accepting bribery and acting as a foreign agent of the Egyptian government. Photo: Maansi Srivastava / The New York Times
On Oct. 12, New Jersey Senator Robert “Bob” Menendez was indicted with a second charge of “Conspiracy for a public official to act as a foreign agent” of Egypt during his term as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. This adds to his previous charge on Sept. 22, which accused him of accepting bribery of hundreds of dollars and secretly aiding the authoritarian regime of Egypt.
Senator Menendez has had a long history in politics. He was a New Jersey State Senator from 1991 to 1993, a representative from 1993 to 2006, and has been a senator since 2006. During his tenure in Congress, he helped pass several acts covering a wide range of policy areas, the most notable being the Affordable Care Act.
He was also the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee from 2013 to 2015 and from 2021 to September 2023, right after the first of his recent indictments.
In 2015, Menendez was indicted by the US Department of Justice for accepting gifts from Salomon Melgen, a Florida ophthalmologist, in exchange for using the power of his Senate office to benefit Melgen’s financial and personal interests. The charge was dropped in 2018 due to the trial jury’s inability to reach a verdict.
The more recent allegations started at the end of 2022 when Senator Menendez and his wife were suspected of accepting allowable gifts from a New Jersey halal meat provider and granting unwarranted favorable treatment to Egyptian firms in the industry. Investigators subsequently found $480,000 in cash and more than $100,000 worth of gold bars at Menendez’s home.
Based on further investigation, the US Department of Justice charged Menendez with using his influence as the Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman to favor Egypt by facilitating US military aid to the country and advocating for key issues like the Ethiopian Renaissance dam.
The Senator is also accused of pressuring officials to ignore anti-competitive practices by the firm ISEG Halal, the sole company authorized by Egypt to review American beef exporters, and of providing sensitive information about employees at the US embassy in Cairo that could endanger their lives. His wife and three New Jersey businessmen were also indicted as Menendez’s codefendants.
Menendez denied any wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty in court. In response to journalists regarding the recent indictments, he stated that “the government is engaged in primitive hunting. That’s where you continue to hound your prey until it’s exhausted, and then you kill it. That’s not gonna work with me, and I have nothing to resign,” claimed Menendez.
Sen. Ben Cardin succeeded Menendez as the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Sept. 28, 2023. Photo: Jose Luis /AP News
The scandal has stirred responses from other politicians. Many of Menendez’s Democratic colleagues have called for his resignation. Nonetheless, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said that Menendez has a right to due process and a fair trial before he is legally obliged to do anything.
On the other hand, some political analysts point out that the Republicans have been far less active in calling for Menendez’s resignation. According to the analysts, Menendez is ideologically closer to Republicans compared to other Democrats, and his refusal to resign is anticipated to more closely tie corruption to the whole Democratic Party in the 2024 presidential and senate elections.
Moreover, the Republicans, said the analysts, may be avoiding the rhetoric that criminal allegations leave a politician unfit for public office, which would hurt former President Donald Trump in elections.
The Menendez indictment also added to the tension between the US and Egypt. For months now, the Biden Administration has been denouncing the Egyptian government for its human rights abuse. After the Menendez indictment, Ben Cardin, the new Senate Foreign Relations Chair succeeding Menendez, told reporters that he was considering delaying the $235 million military aid to Cairo.
House Representative Andy Kim has announced that he will run against Menendez for the Democratic primary for the 2024 Senate election. As Menendez's indictments continue to unfold, more challenges to Menendez in different political arenas are anticipated with little chance of recourse.