New Jersey senator Bob Menendez has been indicted on corruption charges, following a months-long federal investigation into whether he used his power to advance the special interests of a friend and donor in exchange for gifts.
Menendez was indicted along with a close friend, Salomon Melgen, on Wednesday by a federal grand jury in Newark, New Jersey.
Department of Justice spokesman Peter Carr confirmed that Menendez and Melgen were indicted “in connection with a bribery scheme in which Menendez allegedly accepted gifts from Melgen in exchange for using the power of his Senate office to benefit Melgen’s financial and personal interests.”
Menendez was indicted on a total of 14 charges: one count of conspiracy, one count of violating the travel act, eight counts of bribery, three counts of honest services fraud and one count of making false statements. Melgen faces the same charges with the exception of making false statements.
The DOJ and FBI have been handling the case, which stems from Menendez’s ties to Melgen, a Florida ophthalmologist who is his close friend and campaign donor. Melgen, along with his family and associates, contributed more than $1m to Menendez and political action committees to help secure the senator’s re-election in 2012, according to Federal Election Commission filings.
The indictment further states that Menendez allegedly intervened in a dispute between Melgen and the government of the Dominican Republic over a port security contract purchased by Melgen. It also alleges that Menendez helped support the tourist and student visa applications of three of Melgen’s girlfriends, as well as the visa application of the younger sister of one of Melgen’s girlfriends.
“Throughout these efforts, Menendez allegedly engaged in advocacy for Melgen all the way up to the highest levels of the U.S. government, including meeting with a U.S. cabinet secretary, contacting a U.S. Ambassador, meeting with the heads of executive agencies and other senior executive officials and soliciting other U.S. Senators, all in order to assist Melgen’s personal and pecuniary interests,” the DOJ said in a statement.
Federal prosecutors focused their investigation on a number of incidents involving Menendez and Melgen that would implicate the senator in criminal activity, ranging from receiving improper gifts to the misuse of his office.
Among the allegations are numerous trips Menendez is said to have taken on Melgen’s private jet, which he did not disclose. Because Melgen is one of Menendez’s financial backers, the flights could be considered gifts under federal law. Menendez, who said his failure to report the trips was simply an oversight, repaid Melgen $70,000 after the issue became public.
Menendez’s alleged use of his position in the Senate to aid Melgen’s business is perhaps the more damning piece of the investigation. Authorities examined whether Menendez pressured federal officials at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to change its reimbursement formula after the agency ruled that Melgen had overbilled the Medicare program by $8.9m.
The FBI searched Melgen’s Florida office in 2013, and he has since repaid the money, claiming he was simply confused about the program’s payment formula. Menendez denied that he had improperly intervened to benefit his friend, stating that he only sought clarification on “ambiguities” in the CMS policy.
Both Menendez and Melgen have insisted they are simply old friends whose families have traveled together, and that there has been nothing illegal about their conduct.
Menendez, the son of Cuban immigrants, was first elected to Congress in 1992 as a member of the House of Representatives. He was then appointed to the Senate in 2006 when one of the New Jersey seats was vacated, winning elections both that year and in 2012 to retain the seat.
Menendez previously served as chairman of the Senate foreign relations committee and remains the top Democrat on the panel. Amid the charges, Menendez will temporarily step down from his post as ranking member of the committee.
In recent months, he has sparred with the White House over the Obama administration’s decision to renew ties with Cuba and been a vocal opponent of an emerging nuclear deal with Iran.
Last year, Menendez sought the Justice Department’s help in probing evidence found by US investigators that the Cuban government was behind a smear campaign alleging that he engaged with underage prostitutes in the Dominican Republic. The prostitution scandal, which was reported by the conservative Daily Caller in 2012 when Menendez was up for re-election, proved to be false.
The editorial board of the NJ Star-Ledger, one of New Jersey’s leading newspapers, responded to the indictment by calling on Menendez to “resign and spare us the drama.”
“The state needs a respected senator who is focused on his job, not a tarnished defendant who spends his days fending off credible charges of corruption and raising money for his legal defense,” the board wrote. “He has done good service to this state over the past 40 years. But that is now tarnished forever. His decision to stay and fight only compounds the damage.”
Menendez remained defiant in the face of his indictment, vowing to fight the charges while pleading his innocence.
“For nearly three years I’ve lived under a Justice Department cloud, and today I’m outraged that this cloud has not been lifted,” he said at a press conference in Newark. “I am outraged that prosecutors at the Justice Department were tricked into starting this investigation.”
While accusing federal prosecutors of not knowing “the difference between friendship and corruption,” Menendez insisted he would be “vindicated.”
“I have always conducted myself in accordance with the law,” Menendez said. “I am not going anywhere ... This is not how my career is going to end.”
