Sen. Bob Menendez charged for acting as unregistered foreign agent to Egypt

New York, New York - New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez has been hit with a superseding indictment as prosecutors are now accusing him of being an unregistered foreign agent.

Senator Bob Menendez was charged with acting as a foreign agent for Egypt on Thursday, adding to a recent corruption indictment from federal prosecutors.
Senator Bob Menendez was charged with acting as a foreign agent for Egypt on Thursday, adding to a recent corruption indictment from federal prosecutors.  © Chip Somodevilla / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP

According to AP News, the indictment – which was filed on Thursday in Manhattan federal court – argues that Menendez violated the Foreign Agents Registration Act when he didn't register with the US government while serving as "an agent of a foreign principal."

On September 22, the senator and his wife, Nadine Menendez, were indicted for allegedly taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from three New Jersey businessmen in exchange for help with their businesses and legal cases.

The new indictment claims that Menendez and his wife held a meeting at his Washington DC office in May 2019 with Wael Hana, one of the business associates listed as a co-defendant in the case, as well as an Egyptian intelligence official. There they discussed a 2015 airstrike by the Egyptian military that injured an American citizen.

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At the time, some politicians argued that military aid for Egypt should be cut because of the incident. In text messages between the Egyptian official and Hana, the official requests that Menendez handle the situation, promising "he will sit very comfortably."

Menendez and his wife have pled not guilty to the charges and the senator refuses to step down, vowing that he will be exonerated after the trial.

Cover photo: Chip Somodevilla / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP

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