Bob Menendez, a Corrupt Man in the U.S. Senate

By Deisy Francis Mexidor on September 23, 2023

New Jersey Democratic lawmaker and fervent hater of Cuba, Robert “Bob” Menendez’s dirty laundry has finally caught up with him and forced him to resign as chairman of the influential U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

A federal grand jury has indicted him on charges of accepting substantial bribes and “until the matter is resolved,” the lawmaker will stay away from the post, according to an observation by House Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

The accusation, which is a prominent topic in the U.S. media, points out that the Cuban-born politician received a series of perks, ranging from cash to gold bars, mortgage payments, compensation for “jobs”, a luxurious vehicle and other items of great value.

Meanwhile the 69-year-old senator, who is sinking in this boat with his wife Nadine Menendez, claims he is innocent and criticized “the excesses of the prosecutors”.

According to Menendez “the facts are not as they are presented”, because “for years, forces behind the scenes have repeatedly tried to silence my voice and dig my political grave”.

The announced decision complies with one of the rules of the Senate Democratic Conference that states members who hold leadership positions or chair committees must resign if charged with a felony.

In fact, if the charges are dismissed or reduced, Menendez could return to his position, something similar to what happened with him in 2015 so this, to some extent, smacks of déjà vu and gives insight into the level of corruption of the rich and powerful in the US.

The current indictment, which stems from a years-long public corruption investigation by the Department of Justice, charges Menendez with three counts of bribery, fraud and extortion in his ties to three New Jersey businessmen.

Those three partners, identified as Wael Hana, Jose Uribe and Fred Daibes, are also co-defendants and each face two felony counts.

Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York made the announcement during a press conference Friday and said the investigation is ongoing.

The 39-page indictment alleges that, beginning in 2018, Menendez and his wife accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in exchange for using their power and influence as a U.S. senator to enrich and protect the three businessmen and allegedly benefit the Egyptian government.

Federal agents found more than $480,000 in cash during a search of the couple’s home in June 2022, “much of it stuffed in envelopes and hidden in clothing, closets and a safe,” as well as more than $70,000 in a safe deposit box belonging to Nadine Menendez.

They also found gold bars worth more than $100,000, according to the indictment as well as seizing numerous items paid for by Hana, Daibes or Uribe, including home furnishings and a Mercedes-Benz convertible.

Prosecutors allege that the “corrupt relationship” between Menendez and the businessmen began around 2018, when Hana and Nadine Menendez “worked to introduce Egyptian military and intelligence officials” to the senator with the goal of setting up a “corrupt agreement.”

The agreement called for Hana, with the help of Daibes and Uribe, to provide bribes to the Menendezes in exchange for the senator using his position as head of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee to benefit the Egyptian government, Hana and others.

Menendez’s problems with justice for corrupt attitudes have a long trail. In 2015 he was indicted on federal corruption charges for allegedly failing to report numerous gifts from a political donor on whose behalf he interceded with various government agencies.

At the time he denied wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty, and continued to serve in the Senate.

His trial began in September 2017 and two months later ended in a mistrial after the jury failed to reach a verdict, and in January 2018, the Justice Department announced that it would not retry Menendez.

However, three months later, the Senate Ethics Committee admonished him “severely” and ordered him to “refund the fair market value of all impermissible gifts not yet paid” and in November of that same year he was elected to a third term in the upper chamber of the US Congress.

Bob Menendez, considered “the most Republican of the Democrats”, has stood out for his hostile position towards Cuba (the country where his parents were born), being the architect, together with another group of anti-Cuban congressmen, of trying to prevent any change in the U.S. Government’s policy towards the island.

To temporarily replace him, Maryland Senator Ben Cardin, who is the highest ranking Democrat on the panel, was appointed.

In 2015, Cardin supported the then Barack Obama administration’s decision to remove Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism, a recommendation he called an important step in the then efforts of both countries to try to normalize relations.

Deisy Francis Mexidor is a Cuban journalist with Prensa Latina and a contributor to Cuba en Resumen

Source: Cuba en Resumen