Sen. Bob Menendez, the New Jersey Democrat so comically corrupt he had to hold a press event to explain why he had cash-stuffed clothing and gold bars lying around his house, was today charged as an undisclosed agent of the Egyptian government.
The superseding indictment includes four new charges and appears to mark the first time a sitting member of Congress has ever been charged with conspiracy for a public official to act as a foreign agent. The indictment alleges Menendez conspired with his wife, Nadine Menendez, and New Jersey businessman Wael Hana to have the senator act as an agent of Egypt. The indictment includes new photos of Menendez, his wife and Hana dining with Egyptian officials that prosecutors said were part of a “corrupt agreement” to provide the senator and his wife with hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in exchange for official acts taken to benefit the Egyptians.
He was blatant about it because the U.S. Supreme Court has made it extraordinarily difficult to prosecute corruption. And Menendez is far from convicted. Most of his party colleagues woudn’t join John Fetterman in calling for his resignation, either. The first rule of Job Club is you don’t take away another member’s job.
