More Charges: Senator Bob Menendez and Wife Accused of Acting as Egyptian Agents in New Superseding Indictment
New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez and his wife were both slapped with one additional charge in a newly filed superseding indictment, RadarOnline.com can report.
In a surprising development to come after Senator Menendez and his wife, Nadine Menendez, were indicted on three federal bribery charges in New York on September 22, a superseding indictment was handed up to Manhattan prosecutors on Thursday.
According to the New York Post, Menendez, his wife, and an Egyptian-born New Jersey businessman were all charged with one additional count of conspiracy for a public official to act as a foreign agent.
The new charge accused the already-embattled Democratic senator of “surreptitiously lobbying his colleagues while chair of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee” to “unfreeze $300 million in military aid meant for the Cairo government.”
As RadarOnline.com reported, Menendez and his wife were initially only charged with three counts of federal bribery in the indictment filed against the couple late last month.
Those three charges were connected to the couple’s allegedly "corrupt relationship" with three businessmen to protect and benefit Egypt.
The initial indictment alleged that Menendez and his wife accepted "hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in exchange for using Menendez's power and influence as Senator" to benefit the three businessmen and Egypt between 2018 and 2022.
The purported bribes allegedly included “cash, gold, payments toward a home mortgage, compensation for a low-or-no-who job, a luxury vehicle, and other things of value.”
Federal agents reportedly found cash, gold, and a luxury vehicle that were the “fruits of [the couple’s] corrupt bribery agreement” during a June 2022 raid on the pair’s New Jersey home.
The agents also reported finding over $480,000 in cash that was “stuffed into envelopes and hidden in clothing, closets, and a safe” during the June 2022 raid.
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Meanwhile, Menendez has refused to resign from his position as New Jersey senator despite the initial indictment – and now superseding indictment – filed against him.
"I firmly believe that when all the facts are presented, not only will I be exonerated, but I still will be New Jersey's senior senator," Menendez said during a press conference in Union City, New Jersey late last month.
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"I understand how deeply concerning this can be, however, the allegations leveled against me are just that: allegations," the embattled senator continued. "The court of public opinion is no substitute for our revered justice system.”
“To those who have rushed to judgement, you have done so based on a limited set of facts framed by the prosecution to be as salacious as possible,” Menendez added. “Remember: prosecutors get it wrong sometimes. Sadly, I know that."
As for the nearly $500,000 in cash that the federal agents found “stuffed into envelopes and hidden in clothing” during the June 2022 raid on his home, Menendez claimed that it was money he had previously withdrawn from his personal savings account.
“For 30 years, I have withdrawn thousands of dollars in cash from my personal savings account, which I have kept for emergencies and because of the history of my family facing confiscation in Cuba," he explained last month.
"Now, this may seem old-fashioned, but these were monies drawn from my personal savings account based on the income that I have lawfully derived over those 30 years,” Menendez continued.
“I look forward to addressing other issues at trial."