N.J. Sen. Bob Menendez indicted
WASHINGTON — U. S. Sen. B ob Menendez wa s charged Wednesday with accepting nearly $1 million worth of gifts and campaign contributions from a longtime friend in exchange for political favors on the donor’s behalf.
A federal grand jury indictment accuses the New Jersey Democrat of using his power to benefit Dr. Salomon Melgen, a wealthy Florida eye doctor who prosecutors say provided the senator with luxury vacations, airline travel, golf trips and tens of thousands of dollars in contributions to a legal defense fund.
The indictment from a federal grand jury in Newark charged the senator with 14 counts, including bribery, conspiracy and false statements, over his ties to Melgen, who was also charged in the case.
Speaking Wednesday night before supporters in a hotel in Newark, Menendez predicted he would be “vindicated.” He says he has always acted in accordance with the law and isn’t “going anywhere”
The criminal charges cloud the political future of the top Democrat — and former chairman — of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
The indictment from a grand jury in his home state was t he latest development in a federal investigation that came into public view when federal authorities raided Melgen’s medical offices in 201 3. Among the allegations is that Melgen provided Menendez with free trips to the Dominican Republic aboard his luxury jet and that the senator, between 2007 and 2012, never disclosed the gifts he received from the doctor.
In exchange for those and other gifts, prosecutors say, Menendez tried to influence immigration proceedings of Melgen’s foreign girlfriends, sought to protect a lucrative contract Melgen held to provide cargo screening services to the Dominican Republic and intervened in a Medicare billing dispute on the doctor’s behalf.