Sen Bob Menendez shredded as he is indicted for the fourth time on charges related to alleged bribery scheme

TRENTON, NEW JERSEY: Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and his wife, Nadine Arslanian Menendez, have been accused of lying to federal investigators in a new indictment on Tuesday, March 5.

The charges are related to allegations that they accepted gold bars and cash in exchange for giving favors to local businessmen and foreign governments.

Their indictment has been expanded and the couple is now facing additional bribery and obstruction of justice charges, as per the New York Post.

Other co-defendants in the case include Wael Hana and Fred Daibes, and together they are charged with 18 counts, 16 of which involve the Senator.

The revised indictment reveals a "corrupt relationship" between the accused parties and those seeking to benefit from their influence, including New Jersey businessmen, the Egyptian government, and Qatar.

The revised, expanded indictment comes after Sen Bob Menendez's co-defendant Jose Uribe pleaded guilty

The new indictment brought against Bob and his co-defendants has been revised and expanded, and it now alleges that the bribes paid to the Senator included a whopping $566,000 in cash, roughly $100,000 in gold bars, home mortgage payments, payment for a "low-or-no-show job," a Mercedes-Benz convertible, to even exercise machines and an air purifier.

He had previously been charged with several crimes, including wire fraud, extortion, bribery, and acting as a foreign agent for Egypt between 2018 and 2022.

At the time, Menendez was serving Senate Foreign Relations Committee, however, he has since stepped down from that position but refused to resign from his office, despite pressure from both Republican and Democratic colleagues.

The US Attorney's Office from the Southern District of New York, which announced the charges, declined to comment any further.

The expanded indictment has come after a fifth co-defendant in the case, Jose Uribe, pleaded guilty to charges of obstruction of justice on March 1.

Uribe has pledged to "cooperate fully" with investigators and has since admitted to making several wire payments to the Senator's wife through a Bronx bank to disrupt an investigation by the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office into one of his associates for alleged insurance fraud.

His cooperation has led to new allegations in the filing about false statements made by the senator and his wife to federal investigators in August and September 2023, just before their first indictment.

Bob, along with his wife, Nadine, Hana, and Daibes, who have each pleaded not guilty, are scheduled to face trial on May 6.

The expanded indictment reaffirmed that the Democrat Senator provided sensitive US government information to Egypt in exchange for bribes and pressured the US Department of Agriculture to protect a business monopoly held by Hana.

It also reasserts Bob's involvement in a deal between Daibes, a real estate developer, and a member of Qatar's ruling family in 2021 to connect with a Doha-linked firm.

The FBI raided the Garden State Senator’s home in June 2022, seizing possession of the cash, "much of it stuffed into envelopes and hidden in clothing, closets, and a safe," as well as gold bars.

Sen Bob Menendez claimed the government is trying to 'convict him in the court of public opinion' by filing consecutive indictments

On Monday, federal judge Sidney Stein denied Sen Bob's lawyers' request to declare the search warrants that uncovered the "fruits" of his corrupt arrangement with Hana, Daibes, and Uribe unconstitutional.

During a Senate floor speech in January of this year, the New Jersey Senator noted, "By filing three indictments — one in late September, a second one a few weeks later in mid-October, and a third one just last week in early January — it allows the government to keep the sensational story in the press, it poisons the jury pool and it seeks to convict me in the court of public opinion."

"There is no evidence of the giving or receiving of cash and gold bars," incorrectly stated Sen Bob at another time, suggesting reporters had not "read the indictment."

He further warned that following his conviction, any action taken by a legislator to "attract investment and economic opportunity to their states would now be a crime."

According to court records, Daibes' driver's fingerprints were supposedly found on an envelope containing hundreds of dollars in cash that was confiscated by the FBI during a June 2022 sweep of the Senator's residence.

Serial numbers discovered on gold bars collected during the raid matched those reported missing by Daibes following a 2013 armed robbery of his Edgewater home, which were eventually recovered by authorities.

When pressed on the evidence recovered thus far, the Senator responded in January, "You got to get your facts straight and get honest and maybe I’ll talk to you."

Bob and his wife will have the opportunity to appear in court to formally respond to the additional allegations, but it was unclear on Tuesday when the preliminary hearing will take place.

Sen John Fetterman (D-Pa.), the most strident member of his own party asking for Sen Bob's resignation, stated on Tuesday that it is past time for him to leave office.

When asked about his thoughts on the latest indictment, Fetterman replied, "I've lost count.”

The Pennsylvania Democrat added, "It’s been clear that my colleagues want to keep him around. But that sleazeball has two months until his trial."

Internet reacts as Sen Bob Menendez is indicted for the fourth time on charges relating to his alleged bribery scheme

One remarked, "@SenateDems @SenatorDurbin Time for Mr.Menendez to leave the Senate...Criminal," and another noted, "The Senate should expel him. Goldmember shouldn't get to make the decision on whether he stays or goes. He doesn't have a moral compass. That much is clear."

"He should have already resigned," declared a person, while someone else said, "Should have resigned a long time ago. Now expel him."

An individual quipped, "Apparently, Bob’s the only one that doesn’t think so." "It’s way past time. Menendez is a traitor," asserted one more. 

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.