New Jersey Senator Faces Corruption Charges

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Updated: | Originally published: ;

New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez was indicted Wednesday on corruption charges for improperly aiding a friend and major Democratic donor. He’s only the twelfth senator ever to be indicted.

A federal grand jury in New Jersey charged Menendez on 14 counts, including eight related to bribery and another on conspiracy. Federal authorities have been looking into whether Menendez, who rose from a tenement in Union City to become the top-ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, exchanged political favors for hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of gifts and campaign contributions from a Florida eye doctor, who was also indicted Wednesday.

Throughout the federal probe, Menendez has repeatedly said he has committed no wrongdoing. In a lively news conference in Newark, New Jersey, on Wednesday evening, a defiant Menendez knocked the Justice Department in both English and Spanish, periodically halting to wait for fierce cheers to die down.

“I’m outraged that prosecutors at the Justice Department were tricked into starting this investigation three years ago with false allegations by those who have a political motive to silence me,” he said. “But I will not be silenced. I’m confident at the end of the day I will be vindicated and they will be exposed.”

“I’m angry and ready to fight because today contradicts my public service career and my entire life,” he said. “I’m angry because prosecutors at the Justice Department don’t know the difference between friendship and corruption and have chosen to twist my duties as a senator—and my friendship—into something that is improper,” he added. “They are dead wrong and I am confident that they will be proven so.”

And in a letter addressed to Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid, Menendez said he would “temporarily” step down as Ranking Member of the Foreign Relations Committee.

“While there is no caucus rule that dictates that I do so, I believe it is in the best interests of the Committee, my colleagues, and the Senate which is why I have chosen to do so,” he explained, adding that he would “retain my membership and seniority” and “will once against ascend” to the position “upon the successful resolution of the allegations before me.”

These U.S. Senators Are the Only Ones to Ever Get Indicted

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Robert Menendez Years in Senate: 2006-Present Party: Democrat State: New Jersey After more than a two-year investigation, a federal grand jury indicted Menendez on charges including conspiracy to commit bribery and wire fraud over his advocacy of business interests of Dr. Salomon Melgen. — Alex Rogers Win McNamee—Getty Images
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Ted Stevens Years in Senate: 1968-2009 Party: Republican State: Alaska One of the country's longest-serving Senators was indicted on July 29, 2008 on seven counts of making false statements on disclosure forms for items he received from a company that helped renovate his house. According to the indictment, these items include a new first floor, garage, wraparound deck, plumbing, car exchanges and a Viking gas grill. Stevens was the most prominent figure in the FBI's investigation of public corruption in Alaska and was convicted on all seven counts on October 27, 2008, but a federal judge later overturned the ruling due to prosecutorial misconduct. — Alex RogersKris Connor—Getty Images
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Kay Bailey Hutchison Years in Senate: 1993-2013 Party: Republican State: Texas After assuming office in 1993, the Texas Senator was indicted on charges of official misconduct due to the misuse of state equipment and employees for her election campaign, as well as tampering with evidence to impede the district attorney's investigation. Hutchison was acquitted of all charges shortly after her trial began, and she still went on to serve in the Senate for twenty years. — James Downie and Baird KelloggRick Kern—WireImage/Getty Images
Former U.S. Senator David Durenberger, (R-MN, 1978-1995), Chair of the National Institute of Health Policy, answers a question during a keynote address titled " The Politics of Health Care" at the 2006 World Health Congress, April 19, 2006 in Washington, DC. Photographer: Chris Greenberg/Bloomberg News
David F. Durenberger Years in Senate: 1978-95 Party: Republican State: Minnesota Like Hutchison, Durenberger was indicted for misuse of public funds; he had requested reimbursement from the Senate for staying at a condominium that he secretly owned. After pleading guilty to five misdemeanors in 1995, prosecutors fined him $1,000 and sentenced him to a year of probation. — James Downie and Baird KelloggChris Greenberg—Bloomberg News/Getty Images
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Harrison A. Williams Years in Senate: 1959-82 Party: Democrat State: New Jersey The New Jersey Senator took bribes from FBI agents posing as wealthy Arab businessmen in a sting operation and was indicted in 1980. Williams resigned in 1982 prior to a Senate vote on his expulsion and served 21 months in federal prison on bribery and conspiracy charges. — James Downie and Baird KelloggJames Atherton—Bettmann/Corbis
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Edward J. Gurney Years in Senate: 1969-74 Party: Republican State: Florida A strong Nixon supporter, Gurney served on the Senate committee that investigated the Watergate scandal but was later indicted in 1974 for lying to a grand jury and for bribery in a case involving influence-peddling. He chose not to run for re-election in '74, though he was eventually acquitted of all charges. — James Downie and Baird KelloggAP
JAN 18 1969, 1/22/1969; Burton K. Wheeler;
Burton K. Wheeler Years in Senate: 1923-47 Party: Democrat State: Montana The lawyer-turned-politician was indicted only a year after first taking office for accepting a fee to represent a client before the Department of the Interior (a conflict of interest with his legislative duties). Both the Senate and the courts later acquitted him. — James Downie and Baird KelloggBill Wunsch—Post Archive
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Truman Newberry Years in Senate: 1919-22 Party: Republican State: Michigan Prosecutors indicted the wealthy industrialist for violating the Federal Corrupt Practices Act (he spent $3,750 to secure his election to the Senate over carmaker Henry Ford). Although the Supreme Court overturned his conviction in 1921, he left Congress a year later in the face of second movement to unseat him. — James Downie and Baird KelloggBettmann/Corbis
File written by Adobe Photoshop® 5.This work is in the public domain in the United States because it is a work of the United States Federal Government under the terms of Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 105 of the US Code. See Copyright.To order images of Senators, please contact Heather Moore, Senate Photo Historian, at 202-224-6900, or by e-mail to Photo Historian. At present, only images of Senators are available.
Joseph R. Burton Years in Senate: 1901-06 Party: Republican State: Kansas The first-term Senator was indicted in 1904 for accepting $2,500 to prevent a fraud order against the Rialto Grain and Securities Company. He appealed his six-month prison sentence and fine, but the new trial resulted in the same verdict, and he resigned his seat in 1906. — James Downie and Baird Kellogg
File written by Adobe Photoshop® 5.0This portrait or photograph of a U.S. Congress member was provided by the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. According to the copyright page, the image is in the public domain unless other copyright information is given.
Charles Dietrich Years in Senate: 1901-05 Party: Republican State: Nebraska Appointed to fill a vacancy, Dietrich was charged in 1903 with taking a bribe in exchange for the procurement of a postmaster's position, as well as entering into a government contract while serving in the Senate. He was acquitted less than two weeks later, found innocent by the Senate, and finished his term without seeking re-election. — James Downie and Baird Kellogg
John H. Mitchell Terms: 1873-79, 1885-97, 1901-05 Party: Republican State: Oregon A grand jury charged Mitchell in 1905 for using political influence to help clients obtain fraudulent land claims, as part of the Oregon Land Fraud Scandal. Sentenced to six months in prison and a $1,000 fine, he died while appealing the sentence. — James Downie and Baird Kellogg
John Smith Years in Senate: 1803-08 Party: Republican State: Ohio One of Ohio's first two Senators, he was approached by Aaron Burr to help with a military expedition against Spanish Florida. Smith agreed to provide supplies but withdrew his support when he learned that Burr's intentions were to take over parts of Mexico and the western United States. Nevertheless, he was still indicted in Virginia as a conspirator. The charges were dropped after Burr was acquitted on a technicality, but his implication in the Burr treason ruined his political career, and he resigned in 1808. — James Downie and Baird Kellogg

There isn’t a party rule that forces Democratic senators in top positions to relinquish their leadership roles, as there is for Republicans. A few weeks ago, Reid said he would not “deal in hypotheticals” when asked if Menendez should step down from his Committee spot if charged. Menendez has been an influential voice in international affairs, as well as an occasional thorn in the Obama Administration’s side on issues regarding Iran and Cuba.

In a statement Wednesday, Reid, who voluntarily interviewed with DOJ and FBI officials last year as they investigated the corruption charges, said he appreciated Menendez’s “willingness” to temporarily step down. “He has been a consistent champion for the middle class,” Reid continued. “As I have said about both Democrats and Republicans, our justice system is premised on the principle of innocent until proven guilty and Senator Menendez should not be judged until he has his day in court.”

It’s the first time in Reid’s decade at the helm of the caucus that he has had to deal with a charged colleague. The last such Senate Democrat, Harrison A. Williams of New Jersey, was indicted 35 years ago.

Menendez allegedly intervened on behalf of the eye doctor, Salomon Melgen, in three major ways, the indictment details: to facilitate the visa applications of three of Melgen’s foreign girlfriends; to “pressure” the State Department and influence the Dominican Republic to ensure Melgen a 20-year, multi-million dollar port security contract; and to protest Medicare reimbursement audits alleging that Melgen—Medicare’s top-paid physician in 2012—overbilled the government by about $8.9 million.

In 2012, about six days after Melgen issued a $300,000 check to a political action committee benefiting Senate Democrats, the indictment states Menendez delved into his friend’s Medicare billing dispute, taking his position in a meeting with the chief of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and later with then-Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

Menendez’s troubles came to light in January 2013, when FBI and HHS officers raided Melgen’s Florida offices after the conservative website Daily Caller ran an article that claimed Menendez paid two women in the Dominican Republic for sex at a gated oceanfront resort, where Melgen owned a home. While Menendez emphatically denied the report and the FBI found no evidence to support its claims, the Senator ended up personally reimbursing Melgen over $58,000 for two other private jet trips to the country in 2010, citing sloppy paperwork. Menendez did not disclose the free trips as required by Senate rules for three years and the chamber’s ethics committee reviewed the violation.

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