Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez, at the Capitol on Oct. 4. MICHAEL REYNOLDS (EFE)
Legal pressure on Senator Bob Menendez is increasing. On Thursday, federal prosecutors accused the Democratic New Jersey state lawmaker of being an agent working for the Egyptian government. Authorities accuse the person who chaired the upper house foreign affairs committee of violating a law that requires Americans to disclose to the government whether they have ties to foreign powers. This is an expansion of allegations made a few weeks ago that Menendez and his wife received cash, gold and a convertible as alleged bribes from three businessmen seeking their influence in Washington.
The new accusation was formulated in the federal courts in Manhattan. Prosecutors believe the 69-year-old senator, along with his wife Nadine, “promised and actually carried out a series of acts on behalf of Egypt, including Egyptian military and intelligence agents.” The document names as a defendant businessman Wael Hana, who, along with Nadie, forwarded the Cairo authorities’ requests to lawmakers, a powerful Democrat in the Senate who was instrumental in approving defense aid for the Middle East. . Menendez is also one of Israel’s most loyal supporters.
The prosecution assures that these favors occurred between January 2018 and up to June last year. In May 2019, for example, Menendez received an Egyptian secret service agent in his Capitol office. This visit came at a time when several lawmakers expressed doubts about the provision of military assistance to the African country due to an incident in 2015 in which Egyptian soldiers aboard an Apache helicopter carried out an airstrike that killed a US citizen was seriously injured. Washington assumed that the government in Cairo had not properly compensated the victim.
Hana and Nadine, the senator’s girlfriend at the time, were also present at this meeting. After that visit, the Egyptian agent sent a text message to the businessman explaining that his government would benefit from getting help from Menendez. “These are orders, consider it done,” the note in the hands of prosecutors said. Hana’s lawyers call the allegations “absurd and false.” Menendez also denied the prosecution’s first allegation and asked for an opportunity to defend himself. Lawmakers refused to resign from office. This Thursday he was silent.
The expansion of the allegation includes photos of Menendez having dinner in Washington with his partner and two Egyptian officials. This is particularly serious for Menendez, who as a U.S. lawmaker is specifically prohibited from working for a foreign government. Violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act can subject civilians to a maximum sentence of up to five years and fines of $250,000. Menendez, who has been a senator for 17 years and whose term ends in 2025, is accused of writing a letter to his colleagues in Parliament to remove obstacles to the delivery of $300 million in aid sent to Cairo by the Government should receive United States. Joined.
Hana pleaded not guilty in September to conspiracy to bribe a public official. “Mr. Hana will vigorously defend himself against this baseless accusation,” said his attorney, Lawrence Lustberg. The businessman is the owner of the only company that certifies that meat imported into Egypt is halal. After receiving approvals from Egyptian authorities, Menendez called on US Department of Agriculture authorities not to question the process.
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The assistance extended into the spring of 2020, when Nadine Menendez organized a meeting between her husband and the same Egyptian official who visited him in his offices in Washington. The topic was the construction of a dam on the Nile, an important issue for the African nation and regional geopolitics. After the meeting, Menendez sent a letter to the Treasury Department and current Secretary of State Mike Pompeo calling on the United States to play a more active role in negotiations between Ethiopia and Sudan.
The accusation provoked reactions in the Senate. John Fetterman, the diverse Democratic senator from Philadelphia, called for Menendez’s expulsion this Thursday. “We cannot have an outside agent in the U.S. Senate,” said the lawmaker, who has invited the rest of the bench to join the withdrawal motion. “He should have been gone a long time ago,” he added on X, the social network formerly known as Twitter. Another 30 senators had already called for his resignation when the first allegations became known.
Both Menendez and Nadie are suspected of receiving bribes from three businessmen in addition to the Egyptian government. During a search of the home of the couple, who married in 2020, authorities found nearly half a million dollars in cash and $100,000 in gold bars. In that original indictment, prosecutors also allege that the lawmaker received a Mercedes-Benz C-300 convertible and some payments on his mortgage in exchange for favors received.
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