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| Source:CNN- U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (Democrat, New Jersey) could be drowning in political hot water very soon. I think Bought Off Bob, or Paid For Bob, have real rings to them. |
“Federal prosecutors allege Sen. Bob Menendez accepted race car tickets and other gifts from Qatar as part of a yearslong corruption scheme, with the Gulf nation joining Egypt as another foreign country the New Jersey Democrat is accused of helping while in office.
Prosecutors allege in the superseding indictment that Menendez’s bribery and extortion scheme continued into 2023, a year longer than initially alleged. The new indictment, made public Tuesday, amends and replaces the original indictment, listing the formal charges against a defendant.
Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) stands in an elevator after leaving his office in the Hart Senate Office Building on September 28, 2023 in Washington, DC. Menendez will address Senate Democrats in a caucus meeting later today, a day after being arraigned on federal bribery charges in New York City.
READ: Superseding indictment in Menendez corruption case
Among the new allegations, according to the indictment, is that Menendez accepted payments from one of his co-conspirators, New Jersey real estate developer Fred Daibes, in exchange for using his influence to help Daibes obtain millions of dollars from an investment fund tied to Qatar. The senator, prosecutors allege, additionally took steps to help Qatar.
Menendez, his wife Nadine Menendez, Daibes and two other New Jersey businessmen were indicted as part of a bribery scheme last year. All have pleaded not guilty to the charges.
In addition to the bribery charges, Menendez is accused of acting as a foreign agent for the government of Egypt by allegedly taking steps to help the country in exchange for one of the defendants obtaining a monopoly on a Halal export business. Menendez has vigorously denied any wrongdoing.
Menendez’s attorney said in a statement Tuesday that “the government does not have the proof to back up any of the old or new allegations” but instead “a string of baseless assumptions and bizarre conjectures based on routine, lawful contacts between a Senator and his constituents or foreign officials.”
“At all times, Senator Menendez acted entirely appropriately with respect to Qatar, Egypt, and the many other countries he routinely interacts with,” Attorney Adam Fee said in the statement. “Those interactions were always based on his professional judgment as to the best interests of the United States because he is, and always has been, a patriot. This latest Indictment only exposes the lengths to which these hostile prosecutors will go to poison the public before a trial even begins. But these new allegations don’t change a thing, and their theories won’t survive the scrutiny of the court or a jury.”
The latest indictment alleges Menendez introduced Daibes, who was seeking an investment, to a member of the Qatari royal family and principal of the Qatari Investment Company. While the Qatari investment fund was weighing an investment, Menendez made multiple public statements supporting the government of Qatar, according to the indictment.
“Menendez provided Daibes with these statements so that Daibes could share them with the Qatari Investor and a Qatari government officials associated with the Qatari Investment Company,” prosecutors allege.
In August 2021, the senator sent a press release in which he praised the Qatari government to Daibes, texting him, “You might want to send to them. I am just about to release,” the indictment alleges. The following month, after attending a private event hosted by the Qatari government in Manhattan, Daibes texted Menendez photographs of luxury watches valued as much as $23,990, asking, “How about one of these?” Two days later, Menendez texted Daibes a link to a website tracking a Senate resolution supporting Qatar.
Months later in January 2022, Menendez texted the Qatari investor ahead of his meeting with Daibes in London to discuss the potential investment, writing, “I understand my friend is going to visit with you on the 15th of the month. I hope that this will result in the favorable and mutually beneficial agreement that you have been both engaged in discussing,” according to the indictment.
In May, at the senator’s request, the Qatari official provided tickets to the 2022 Formula One Grand Prix to a close relative of Nadine Menendez.
That same month, following a meeting between the senator, Daibes, and the two Qatari officials, the Qatari investment fund signed a letter of intent to enter into a joint venture with Daibes’ company. After, Daibes provided Menendez with a gold bar, according to the indictment.
Prosecutors also allege after Menendez’s home was searched by the FBI in early 2022, the senator took steps to try to cover up the alleged bribes by paying back the mortgage and car payments to the New Jersey businessmen and disguising them as loans.
Last year, the Qatari Investment Company made it official and invested tens of millions of dollars with Daibes. Menendez continued to receive benefits from the Qataris, including four tickets to that year’s Formula One Grand Prix race, the indictment alleges.
Prosecutors say Menendez did not note on his financial disclosure forms the gifts from Qatar and Daibes, including the gold bars and race tickets.”
From CNN
“Federal prosecutors allege Sen. Bob Menendez accepted race car tickets and other gifts from Qatar as part of a yearslong corruption scheme, with the Gulf nation joining Egypt as another foreign country the New Jersey Democrat is accused of helping while in office.”
From CNN
As I wrote about Senator Menendez back in September:
“Once again, I’m not a lawyer and I don’t think I can say that enough. But I doubt he’s still a U.S. Senator by the start of next year. A few things could I believe will happen here:
We’re just starting to see the evidence and the case that the DOJ Southern District of New York has on Senator Menendez. Next could be the documents, phone calls, text’s, email, banking records, that link his co-defendants with Senator Menendez.
Next, he’ll probably have multiple primary challengers for his seat in the Democratic primary next year. and they could either all be well-funded, especially if they’re coming from the U.S. House, with New Jersey House Democrats who want his Senate seat.
3rd, even if Senator Menendez perhaps survives his primary challenge, with all the evidence, along with the additional evidence that will come out against him, New Jersey voters are going to have a real hard question that they’re going to have to deal with. Not hard in the sense that the answer is not obvious, but hard in the sense of do you really want to have to answer this question…
From The New Democrat
As I wrote about Senator Menendez back in October:
“Harry Litman and Jennifer Rodgers aren’t MAGA, partisan, political activists. They’re both Democrats and former U.S. Attorney’s. Senator Menendez can’t claim political bias here from them, or the Democratic appointed U.S. Attorney in New York City and New Jersey. They now have text messages from Senator Menendez, to Egyptian officials, to what information these Egyptians could get, in exchange for Egyptians financially compensating Senator Menendez and his wife. And as Jennifer Rodgers said, this looks like a clear case of bribery.”
From The New Democrat
CNN political analyst Democratic Maria Cardona on Senator Menendez back in September:
“That’s right. But I think if he stays here now under all of this, you know, shadow of the charges, it’s going to make it worse.
And look, that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have the right with every fiber of his being to go out and fight this in the courts. Absolutely, senator, go do it. Clear your name. If you’re innocent, by all means, go do it and show us, right? Show the public, show his voters that these charges are absolutely wrong.
And he should absolutely be able to do it with 100% of his energy and his focus. He won’t be able to do that if he continues to want to keep his Senate seat just for the sake of saying, look, they’re wrong. I’m going to be right. That’s not serving the voters that he so lifts up and is so proud of the service that he has given them. That’s doing them a disservice if he stays.”
From CNN
CNN Democratic political analyst Christine Quinn on Senator Menendez:
“He’s a very arrogant guy whose gotten away with it. And when you’ve gotten away with it, you think you are going to get away with it again. And if he had any concern for himself, his wife, and the United States Senate, he would step down today.” She also called him a criminal, but the way.
Christine Quinn is a New York City, left-wing Democrat. Not exactly a Billy Bob, redneck, MAGA Republican, from Mississippi or some place. (Excuse my language) But someone whose about as blue as people can get politically.
Just in case anyone is wondering whether or not The New Democrat is so partisan, that we just attack Republicans, especially MAGA Republicans, especially Donald Trump and his allies: we don’t attack anyone, including MAGA members. We point about serious, negative facts, about people, when they screw up, act irresponsibly, especially when they act like they’re above the law, regardless of what political party or political philosophy they’re part of. It just so happens that Donald Trump because of his legal issues, has dominated the news for really six months now and that’s just going to continue, regardless of what happens to Senator Menendez.
I predicted back in September that Senator Menendez would resign from Congress by the end of 2023. That obviously didn’t happen since he’s still there. But I also predicted that the legal case against him would just get stronger and be a lot worst for him. That has come true. And if cares about anyone other than what’s left of his Congressional career now in it’s 32nd year in Congress, he would resign immediately and concentrate on his legal case full-time.
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