Democrat Senator Bob Menendez faces more subpoenas in federal corruption investigation.

Senator Menendez Faces Expanded Federal Criminal Corruption Investigation

The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Robert Menendez (D-NY), is facing an expanded federal criminal corruption investigation. According to NBC News, the investigation originally centered around a New Jersey-based halal meat business, IS EG Halal, and how it won an exclusive worldwide contract with Egypt to certify halal exports. The U.S. Agriculture Department was suspicious of the large contract awarded to the company with little experience. Senator Menendez’s wife is friends with the company’s owners, and his position as chairman puts him in charge of billions of dollars in weapons sales to Egypt.

However, the latest round of grand jury subpoenas issued in the criminal investigation are not related to allegations involving the meat company and Menendez. The North Bergen Democrat Mayor Nicholas Sacco was one of the people who received a subpoena in this last batch to go out. The subpoena seeks information about certain legislative changes in New Jersey.

Prior Bribery Charges and Mistrial

In 2015, Menendez was indicted on bribery charges for allegedly accepting luxury vacations, golf outings, campaign donations, and expensive flights from Florida physician Salomon Melgen in exchange for political favors. A federal jury in Florida convicted Melgen in April of 67 charges for operating what prosecutors called a massive scheme that robbed Medicare out of as much as $105 million. Prosecutors began investigating Menendez when they were tipped off in 2012 that Menendez was allegedly having sex with underage prostitutes in the Dominican Republic.

The jury was split in the trial, and a mistrial was declared. The DOJ was set to re-charge Menendez when the judge dismissed seven of the 18 charges against him. A separate report from Semafor said that the new criminal case against Menendez mirrors the prior criminal case that Menendez faced.

Prosecutors rarely ever lose in court, so the fact that they are bringing a new criminal case against Menendez after its humiliating public failure to convict him likely means that they believe they have a stronger case this time. When a mistrial was declared during the first criminal case, Menendez resorted to implying that racists were the reason he came under investigation. Prosecutors ultimately decided against retrying him.

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