Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) was charged with violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act in a new indictment brought Thursday by federal prosecutors in New York.
Menendez, the former head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, stands accused in the superseding indictment of having conspired to work on behalf of the government of Egypt without registering as a foreign agent.
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Menendez, while still a sitting member of the Senate, stepped down from his position on the committee last month after he was initially indicted on three charges over allegations he used his political influence for personal profit by accepting bribes.
Those alleged bribes included “cash, gold, payments toward a home mortgage, compensation for a low-or-no-show job, a luxury vehicle, and other things of value,” the indictment stated.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams of the Southern District of New York said in the new indictment that Menendez also violated FARA from about January 2018 to June 2022, years that coincided with his position as the top Democrat on the foreign relations committee.
FARA requires those doing business on behalf of a foreign country to register and make periodic disclosures to the Department of Justice.
Others charged in the original indictment included Menendez’s wife, Nadine, and three businessmen, Wael Hana, Jose Uribe, and Fred Daibes, with whom Menendez is alleged to have had a corrupt relationship.
Bob and Nadine Menendez and Hana were charged under FARA with “conspiracy for a public official to act as a foreign agent” in the updated indictment. Williams cited two meetings the Menendezes took at Manhattan restaurants during which they allegedly planned out how Menendez would illegally act as an agent of the Egyptian government.
All five of the co-defendants pleaded not guilty to the initial charges. Bob Menendez, for his part, is currently out on $100,000 bond, and he is expected to soon enter an additional plea for the FARA charge.
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Menendez said in a statement Thursday in response to the additional charge that he has been “loyal to only one country — the United States of America.”
“Piling new charge upon new charge does not make the allegation true. … It is an attempt to wear someone down and I will not succumb to this tactic,” Menendez said.
Read a copy of the superseding indictment below:
