NEW YORK (AP) — Sen. Bob Menendez was charged Friday with secretly aiding the authoritarian regime of Egypt in exchange for gold bars and hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash as prosecutors unsealed a corruption indictment that accuses him of using his foreign affairs influence for personal gain.
The indictment, the second in eight years against the powerful 69-year-old New Jersey Democrat, alleges an illegal commingling of Menendez’s professional obligations as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to advance U.S. priorities and his private interests in cultivating relationships with wealthy businessmen who furnished a lavish lifestyle.
The indictment — coming years after an earlier criminal case against Menendez ended with a deadlocked jury — also charges the senator’s wife and three New Jersey businessmen who authorities say showered the couple with money, gold and luxury gifts in exchange for his actions on their behalf.
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Authorities found more than $100,00 worth of gold bars in Menendez’s home, and $480,000 in cash — much of it hidden in closets, clothing and a safe, prosecutors say. Photos included in the indictment show cash stuffed in envelopes found in jackets bearing Menendez’s name.
Prosecutors allege Menendez took repeated actions to benefit Egypt despite U.S. government misgivings over the country’s human rights record that in recent years has prompted Congress to impose restrictions on aids. His steps include ghost-writing a letter to fellow senators encouraging them to lift a hold on $300 million in aid to Egypt as well as transmitting non-public information to Egyptian officials about military issues, the indictment says.
Menendez is also accused of trying to derail the criminal investigation into one of his associates by pushing…
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