It was three weeks ago when federal prosecutors indicted Sen. Bob Menendez, alleging that the New Jersey Democrat received “hundreds of thousands of dollars” in bribes and used his influence to benefit, among others, the Egyptian government.
Though the senator has denied any wrongdoing, and he pleaded not guilty in court, it’s difficult to deny the seriousness of the allegations. According to the Justice Department, Menendez received, among other things, cash, gold bars, payments toward a home mortgage, compensation for a low- or no-show job, and a luxury vehicle. Complicating matters, the longtime lawmaker has struggled to present much of a public defense.
It’s one of the reasons why most of Menendez’s Democratic colleagues, and his home state’s Democratic governor, have urged him to resign.
Today, the senator’s legal difficulties went from bad to worse. NBC News reported:
Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., was hit with new charges Thursday accusing him of accepting bribes from a foreign government and acting as a foreign agent, according to a superseding indictment. The new indictment, filed by a federal grand jury in Manhattan, alleges Menendez, “provided sensitive U.S. Government information and took other steps that secretly aided the Government of Egypt.”
The reference to the Egyptian government is of particular interest because it expands on the earlier allegations: The indictment from a few weeks ago accused the senator of doing favors that benefitted Cairo in exchange for rewards, but this superseding indictment goes further, accusing Menendez of taking covert steps on behalf of a foreign government.
A New York Times report added that the senator, according to federal prosecutors, failed to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, adding, “Prosecutors have asked a judge to seize the Menendezes’ residence in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., as well as a Mercedes-Benz convertible the government says was given to them as a bribe.”
What’s more, let’s also note for context that Menendez has now been accused of acting as a foreign agent while serving as the chairman of Senate Foreign Relations Committee. (Under Senate rules, the New Jersey Democrat was forced to give up his committee gavel after being charged.)
There are still several Senate Democrats who have not yet called for Menendez to step down, though it seems likely that these new allegations will lead to some increased reflection.
What’s more, this creates a new test for Republican officials on Capitol Hill, who’ve so far refused to call for the senator’s resignation. As for Menendez’s constituents, a Public Policy Polling survey in New Jersey, released last week, found the incumbent senator trailing Rep. Andy Kim by 53 points in a hypothetical Democratic primary match-up. A Data for Progress poll, meanwhile, also found Menendez struggling to reach double-digit support among Democratic voters in his own state. There’s no reason to assume that his support can’t slip even lower. Update: A defense attorney representing Wael Hana, another one of the defendants in this case, said in a written statement, “The new allegation that Wael Hana was part of a plot concocted over dinner to enlist Senator Menendez as an agent of the Egyptian Government is as absurd as it is false. As with the other charges in this indictment, Mr. Hana will vigorously defend against this baseless allegation.”
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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