(Headline USA) Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., is facing new bribery allegations in an indictment unsealed on Tuesday that accuses him of illegally doing favors for Qatar and Egypt officials in exchange for money.
The indictment does not add new charges against Menendez, who was indicted last year for federal bribery. But it provides additional evidence that Menendez and his wife, Nadine, used the senator’s influence to aid foreign governments that then paid them off.
In one instance, Menendez allegedly brokered a multimillion-dollar real-estate deal between a Qatari investor and Fred Daibes, a New Jersey developer who is also charged as a defendant in the case, according to the indictment.
Correspondence between Menendez, Daibes and Qatar officials shows Menendez purposefully released public statements praising the Qatari government to help the deal go through, prosecutors alleged.
“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,” they wrote in the indictment.
The following month, Daibes texted Menendez photographs of luxury watches valued as much as $23,990, asking, “How about one of these?”
At one point, Menendez even personally reached out to the Qatar investor involved in the deal, writing in January 2022, “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.
Then, in May, the Qatari official provided tickets to the 2022 Formula One Grand Prix to a close relative of Nadine Menendez, prosecutors said.
Menendez has repeatedly denied the allegations against him, claiming prosecutors have “no evidence” that he was involved in the bribery scheme.
“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 a 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,” Fee continued. “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.”
