Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez & Wife Charged With Accepting $480,000 Gold Bars & Cash To Aid Egyptian Government

According to an indictment unsealed in federal court on Friday, Sen. Bob Menendez (D-New Jersey) and his wife, Nadine Menendez, were charged with violating corruption and bribery laws.

The couple allegedly engaged in a scheme in 2018 to aid the Egyptian government. The indictment states that Menendez, who is the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and his wife accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes, given in the form of cash, gold bars, home mortgage payments, luxury vehicles and “other things of value.”

During a search of Menendez’s home last year, federal agents revealed that they discovered hidden cash and gold bars. Investigators also found more than $480,000 in cash hidden in envelopes and clothing. Additionally, $70,000 was found in Nadine’s safe deposit box.

Probes into the senator’s search history revealed that he had been researching information on the “kilo of gold price.”

Following the indictment, Menendez refuted all claims made against him, accusing federal prosecutors of trying to dig his “political grave.”

“Since this investigation was leaked nearly a year ago there has been an active smear campaign of anonymous sources and innuendos to create an air of impropriety where none exists,” he said.

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New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, alongside many state Democrats, has called for Menendez to resign from the Senate in a statement made on Friday, stating that the “alleged facts are so serious that they compromise” Menedez’s ability to do his job.