Sen. Bob Menendez’s corruption trial, explained

Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) is on trial for corruption — again. The trial for Menendez kicked off Monday, as the former Senate Foreign Relations Committee chair faces allegations from federal prosecutors that he and his wife Nadine accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes to benefit three business associates, as well as the governments of Egypt and Qatar. Prosecutors have asserted that Menendez and Nadine accepted “cash, gold, payments toward a home mortgage, compensation for a low-or-no-show job, a luxury vehicle, and other things of value” from the business associates. They’ve said federal agents found almost half a million dollars in cash during a search of the couple’s home (including some inside Menendez’s jackets), as well as more than $100,000 worth of gold bars. In return, prosecutors claim, Menendez did favors for the foreign governments his associates were in business with: Egpyt and Qatar. Prosecutors also allege that Menendez tried to scuttle investigations into two of the associates. Menendez has defiantly denied the charges, but he has stepped down as chair of the Foreign Relations Committee and declined to run for reelection as a Democrat —though he added the caveat that, if acquitted, he might jump back in the race as an “independent Democrat.” Rep. Andy Kim (D-NJ) is the frontrunner to succeed him. Menendez and Nadine were originally set to face trial together, but she requested and received a postponement for health reasons. There is some intrigue around this, as filings from Menendez’s legal team suggest his defense at trial may involve foisting the blame on his wife — an “I had no idea my wife was accepting so many pricey presents” kind of thing. But the evidence against Menendez appears extensive and damning. Prosecutors quote repeatedly from text messages exchanged among the alleged conspirators, and even from internet searches by Menendez (including “how much is one kilo of gold worth”). And they spend a great deal of time pointing out how specific gifts or payments happened immediately before or after Menendez intervened in a way the businessmen wanted. Menendez did end up beating separate corruption charges back in 2015, when the jury at his trial deadlocked — but soon, we will learn whether his luck has run out. Bob Menendez’s rise to power, and his first indictment, explained The son of Cuban immigrants, Menendez rose to power in the Democratic machine of Hudson County, New Jersey, serving as a mayor and then a member of Congress. Corruption rumors have dogged him since he was first appointed to the US Senate in 2006. When he was running for a full term that year, word leaked that federal prosecutors were scrutinizing a nonprofit he had helped get millions in federal grant money — and that had paid him hundreds of thousands of dollars in rent. No charges were brought, and Menendez won a full term. He quickly rose through the Democratic ranks in the Senate and became chair of the influential Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 2013. A standard-issue Democrat on most domestic issues, he was sometimes a thorn in the Obama administration’s side on foreign policy, criticizing deals Obama struck with Iran and Cuba. He also started living large, taking lavish trips and accepting gifts funded by a campaign donor, wealthy Florida eye doctor Salomon Melgen. This again drew federal prosecutors’ scrutiny, and in 2015, Menendez got his first indictment on bribery and corruption charges. But prosecutors’ case ran into a problem. They presented ample evidence that Menendez used the power of his office to help Melgen out — he advocated on Melgen’s behalf in a billing dispute he was having with Medicare, and intervened in various matters pertaining to a cargo screening contract Melgen had with the Dominican Republic. But they needed to prove a quid pro quo — that Menendez was performing “official acts” specifically in return for the gifts and donations. And defense attorneys argued that they were just good friends helping each other out. Their argument prevailed: In 2017, the prosecution ended in a mistrial due to a deadlocked jury. Menendez now seemed vindicated. He soon regained his former post as top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee (he had stepped back from it while his prosecution unfolded). There was no serious Democratic effort to dislodge him; he only faced an unknown in his 2018 primary, though he got a surprisingly weak 62 percent of the vote against her — and he beat his Republican challenger pretty easily in the general election. Prosecutors’ explosive allegations against Menendez [Image: Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and his wife Nadine Arslanian arrive for a reception honoring the Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and his wife Mareva Mitsotakis in the East Room of the White House on May 16, 2022, in Washington, DC. https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/chorus/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24944224/GettyImages_1397610490.jpg?quality=90&strip=all] Also in 2018, Menendez started dating the woman who would soon become his second wife — and alleged partner in crime — Nadine Arslanian. Before Nadine began dating Menendez, she had “lived a mainly private life” focused on raising two children rather than working, and had struggled financially after a divorce, the New York Times reported. She was unemployed before dating Menendez, and faced foreclosure on her home soon after — so she needed money. Soon, the money — and more — started rolling in. Prosecutors argue that it did so because Menendez and his wife made corrupt deals with three businessmen. 1) Wael Hana, his halal business, and the Egyptian government Wael “Will” Hana was a longtime friend of Nadine’s who had ties to Egyptian government officials. Shortly after Nadine began dating Menendez in 2018, she helped Hana arrange a series of meetings between Egyptian officials, the senator, and Nadine, often discussing arms sales and aid. Per prosecutors, Hana promised Nadine payments in exchange for facilitating these meetings and said he’d give her “a low-or-no-show job” at his company. In spring 2019, Hana scored: The Egyptian government granted his company an exclusive monopoly on certifying that US food exports to Egypt were compliant with halal standards in Islamic law, even though he had no experience in this business area. Prosecutors do not say specifically why they believe Hana obtained this contract, but the implication is that his ties to Menendez were crucial. And Nadine sounded excited — per the indictment, she texted Menendez, “Seems like halal went through. It might be a fantastic 2019 all the way around.” The US Department of Agriculture looked askance at the news, believing it would raise costs for US meat suppliers, so multiple officials contacted the Egyptian government to object. Menendez then called a high-level department official and demanded they back off. And once money was rolling in to Hana’s company, he began paying Nadine — including paying, through his company, $23,000 of her mortgage that was being foreclosed on. Prosecutors claim that, in total, Hana paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in checks, cash, and gold to the Menendezes. In return, they claim, Menendez used his office to help the government of Egypt in various ways, including by providing non-public information about US embassy personnel and planned changes in arms policy. At one point, for instance, senators were holding up military aid to Egypt in protest of their government’s handling of a 2015 incident where April Corley, an American roller skater, was shot and maimed by a (US-provided) Egyptian military helicopter. Per the superseding indictment, after a meeting with Hana and Egyptian officials, Menendez searched Corley’s name. One week later, an Egyptian official texted Hana in Arabic that, if Menendez helped resolve the Corley incident, “he will sit very comfortably.” Hana answered: “Orders, consider it done.” All this, in prosecutors’ telling, amounted to a conspiracy where the Egyptian government effectively bought the Senate Foreign Relations Committee chair — with Hana as the middleman. Hana will face trial alongside Menendez. 2) Jose Uribe’s legal trouble, and a Mercedes-Benz Separately, Hana also connected the Menendezes with Jose Uribe, another businessman working in trucking and insurance (and who had previously been convicted of fraud). Uribe had some associates in legal trouble, with one already being prosecuted by the New Jersey Attorney General’s office and one being investigated by that same office, and he was concerned the cases could implicate him. Hana told the senator and Nadine about all this, and soon afterward, Menendez called the New Jersey attorney’s office, urging them to wrap up the prosecution. Meanwhile, Nadine had gotten into a car accident and needed a new car, and texts suggest that Uribe had promised to pay for it. Eventually, he gave Nadine $15,000 that she used for a down payment on a Mercedez-Benz convertible (after which Nadine texted him, “I will never forget this”) and continued to make monthly payments on the car afterward. Prosecutors argue that this all amounts to Menendez trying “to disrupt New Jersey state criminal matters” in exchange for a car. Uribe was initially indicted alongside Menendez, but he has since pleaded guilty and will likely testify against Menendez at the trial. 3) The prosecution of Fred Daibes, and the Qatari goverment Finally, there’s Fred Daibes, a longtime fundraiser for Menendez, who is also facing trial alongside the senator. Daibes had two things going on. First, Daibes was being prosecuted for bank fraud by the US Attorney’s office for New Jersey, and he wanted that prosecution to go away. With President Biden set to take office in 2021, it was time for a new US Attorney. Traditionally, senators from a state are deeply influential on the US attorney’s choice. Menendez, prosecutors say, badly wanted it to be someone who would go easy on Daibes. He interviewed one candidate, attorney Philip Sellinger, and urged him to do so. When Sellinger said he’d probably have to recuse from the Daibes case, Menendez said he wouldn’t recommend him for the post, per the indictment. Later, a Menendez adviser spoke to Sellinger about the case again, and the adviser reported back to Menendez that he might not have to recuse after all. Menendez eventually did recommend Sellinger for the post, and he was confirmed (and did end up recusing, to the senator’s frustration). The second thing Daibes had going on was that he was seeking a big investment in a real estate project from a Qatari royal family member. Menendez initially connected the two, and while the investment was under consideration, Menendez “made multiple public statements supporting the Government of Qatar” — making sure to send them to Daibes so he could send them to the Qataris. Daibes messaged Menendez pictures of luxury wristwatches, asking Menendez which one he wanted, and also messaged him requesting updates on a Senate resolution supportive of Qatar. At one point, Menendez and Nadine returned from a trip to Qatar and Egypt, and Daibes’s driver gave them a ride back to their house. The next day, prosecutors say Menendez did a web search for “how much is one kilo of gold worth.” In March 2022, Nadine brought two one-kilogram gold bars (then worth $60,000 each) to a jeweler to be sold. The serial numbers on the gold bars, per prosecutors, indicate Daibes had previously possessed them. Agents who later searched Menendez’s home discovered an envelope full of cash with Daibes’s driver’s fingerprints and Daibes’s DNA and return address. What it all means It’s pretty rare these days to get an old-fashioned bribery scandal at this level of national politics. Of course, there’s endless amounts of “legal corruption” going around. Politicians regularly do favors to donors who fund their campaigns, since this is legal as long as there’s no direct quid pro quo. Ex-politicians or officials become lobbyists in industries they’d overseen. Foreign governments pay Donald Trump’s businesses. Hunter Biden rakes in big bucks for questionable work. Justice Clarence Thomas takes luxury trips. But even compared to Menendez’s last indictment — based on his accepting trips and gifts in a Clarence Thomas-like way — this seems to be at a new level. Envelopes of cash and gold bars for a sitting national politician seem like something out of an earlier era. The Democratic Party stuck by Menendez during his first indictment back in 2015 — when, notably, Republican Chris Christie was governor of New Jersey and would have filled Menendez’s seat if he resigned. Some may also have feared crossing the famously vindictive senator. This time around, they bailed, with top leaders calling on Menendez to resign. He refused, but his polling numbers plummeted and he eventually said he wouldn’t run as a Democrat again. Yet he’s left the door open to jump back in the race as an independent if he’s exonerated. Is this the final act of Bob Menendez’s political career or is there another twist coming? Update, May 13, 2024, 11:30 am ET: This article was originally published on September 22, 2023, and has been updated for the beginning of Menendez’s trial.