(New York) US Democratic Senator Bob Menendez, already prosecuted with his wife in a bribery affair involving Egypt and Qatar, has been indicted again in this case for obstructing a judicial investigation, according to a court document made public Tuesday.
The senator is now facing 16 charges, including corruption, influence peddling for the benefit of Qatar and Egypt, as well as acting as an agent of the Egyptian government.
The Democratic parliamentarian was accused at the start of the affair of having accepted with his wife between 2018 and 2022 “hundreds of thousands of dollars” in bribes, in cash or gold bars in particular, in exchange for his influence to “protect and enrich” three New Jersey businessmen and support the Egyptian government.
The 70-year-old elected official, who has so far pleaded not guilty, remained deaf to calls for resignation from his own camp, but he gave up the presidency of the very powerful Foreign Affairs Committee in the Senate at the end of 2023.
The new indictment, issued in Manhattan federal court, comes as one of the three businessmen also prosecuted recently pleaded guilty to certain charges.
Born to Cuban immigrant parents, Robert Menendez, an old hand in American politics, will be tried from May 6. Contacted by AFP, he did not respond immediately.