Nadine Arslanian, Menendez’s wife, reportedly got expensive presents from a business in New Jersey.
A recent story claims that Democratic recent Jersey Senator Bob Menendez would establish a legal defense fund to assist pay for the tens of thousands of dollars in legal bills associated with the federal criminal investigation into his connections with foreign regulators.
The U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York has been investigating Senator Menendez for months, and on Monday, his office acknowledged to NBC News that preparations were underway to establish the fund. According to campaign finance documents acquired by NBC, Menendez has already lost close to $200,000.
A spokesman for Menendez told the source, “Senator Menendez is confident that this official inquiry will be successfully closed.” However, while the investigation is ongoing, the senator plans to set up a separate legal defense fund to avoid using campaign cash. Menendez’s office did not immediately reply to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
The investigation, which involves many federal agencies, focuses on the extravagant gifts given to Menendez’s wife by a New Jersey food company that signed an exclusive arrangement with the Egyptian government to certify Halal food exports across the world.
Menendez’s potential impact as chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is being looked into as part of the investigation. According to NBC, the group manages over $2 billion in annual U.S. aid to Egypt.
Menendez maintains his denial of every single charge made against him.
In October, federal prosecutors started a fresh investigation into Menendez, but they haven’t said how long they expect it to last.
In 2016, Menendez faced federal bribery accusations and was indicted on those counts. In another case, a rich Florida eye doctor and Menedez’s lifelong friend was accused of receiving advantages in exchange for making large donations to the politician.
In 2018, however, the Justice Department decided to withdraw the charges, and the current investigation does not appear to be connected to the old one.