Senator Menendez charged with acting as an agent of the Egyptian government

Sen. Bob Menendez is facing a new indictment in federal court for allegedly acting as a foreign agent to benefit Egypt.

The superseding indictment, filed Thursday, alleges that New Jersey’s senior senator, his wife and businessman Wael Hana conspired for Menendez to act as a foreign agent from January 2018 through at least June 2022 for the Egyptian government and Egyptian officials, even as he sat as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Menendez — along with his wife, Nadine Arslanian Menendez, Hana, Edgewater developer Fred Daibes and businessman Jose Uribe — already face corruption charges, brought by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, for allegedly accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from the businessmen in exchange for helping them enrich themselves and trying to get them out of trouble.

According to the new 44-page indictment, Menendez, his wife and Hana "willfully and knowingly combined, conspired, confederated, and agreed together" to have the senator "act as an agent of a foreign principal, to wit, the Government of Egypt and Egyptian officials, required to register under FARA," the Foreign Agents Registration Act.

That statue requires people that agree to act or are acting as “an agent of a foreign principal” to register with the U.S. Attorney General if they engage in certain conduct “such as political activities, political consulting, public relations or publicity activities for or in the interest of the foreign principal.”

Read the new indictment: Sen. Menendez charged with acting as a foreign agent for Egypt

This is meant to prevent covert influence by other countries. It is illegal for a member of Congress to act as an agent of a foreign principal.

The indictment cites the Senate Ethics Manual, which states that “regardless of compensation, a public official may not act as an agent or attorney for a foreign principal required to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.”

Menendez was allegedly adamant in May 2020 that a former member of Congress be investigated by the federal Department of Justice for failing to register as a foreign agent. In a letter to the department he said that “The Act is clear that acting directly, or indirectly in any capacity on behalf of a foreign principal triggers the requirement to register under FARA.”

He allegedly sent a letter to the U.S. Attorney General reiterating the request for an investigation because, he said, if this former member “carried out work that requires registration under FARA, it is imperative that the Justice Department ensure he is held to account.”

As part of the original indictment, filed last month, Menendez, his wife, and the three businessmen face allegations that between 2018 and 2022, Menendez and his wife “engaged in a corrupt relationship with Hana, Uribe and Daibes” to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in exchange for Menendez using his “power and influence to protect, to enrich those businessmen and to benefit the government of Egypt.”

Menendez stepped down as the Foreign Relations Committee chair after that indictment was filed. Gov. Phil Murphy, Sen. Cory Booker and other fellow Democrats in Congress have called on Menendez to resign as senator. Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman called on his colleagues to expel Menendez after news of the new indictment broke Thursday.

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At a conference in federal court in lower Manhattan, Judge Sidney Stein scheduled the trial to start on May 6 for Menendez as well as his wife, Hana, Daibes and Uribe. All of the defendants have entered not guilty pleas.

Katie Sobko covers the New Jersey Statehouse. Email: sobko@northjersey.com

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Bob Menendez charged with acting as an agent of Egypt