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Disgraced Senator Bob Menendez ditches Democratic Party to run as an Independent amid his bribery trial
Embattled New Jersey Democrat Bob Menendez has switched his party affiliation to run for Senate as an Independent as he faces a trial on federal bribery charges.
The senator filed one day ahead of the deadline to run as an Independent. Running for reelection allows him to continue to spend campaign dollars on legal expenses.
Menendez has denied any wrongdoing in the corruption trial and pleaded not guilty.
Rep. Andy Kim, who is running for the seat on the Democratic side, has warned that a third party run from Menendez could put the seat in typically deep-blue New Jersey in jeopardy.
Menendez announced in March he would not run for re-election as a Democrat.
Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., arrives at a federal court in New York on Thursday morning
'I will not file for the Democratic primary this June,' he said in a video statement at the time. 'I am hopeful that my exoneration will take place this summer and allow me to pursue my candidacy as an independent Democrat in the general election.'
If convicted, senators will have to decide whether to expel him if he does not resign.
Menendez and his wife Nadine are both charged in a bribery scheme featuring gold bars, hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and a luxury Mercedes-Benz.
Last week in court prosecutors laid to bare Menendez and wife Nadine's 'desperate' financial situation, seemingly to link their need for cash to the gifts and gold bars allegedly bestowed upon them by the businessmen co-defendants in the case.
Menendez's defense attorneys have claimed the 13 gold bars and the $480,000 in cash stored in clothing, footwear and a safe discovered by the FBI during a raid on the couple's home were there because of the senator's trauma from the squandering of his family's fortune before he was born in 1954.
They argue his fear of going without stems from his parent's belongings getting seized in Castro's Cuba more than half a century ago.
Nadine's Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, home was in danger of being foreclosed after she missed almost $20,000 in mortgage payments in 2019, before she and the senator wed.
Nadine and Bob Menendez together at a dinner honoring French President Emmanuel Macron
During the raid, authorities found $480,000 in cash spread around the home
Tons of cash was also found stowed away in bags
But prosecuting attorneys say her cash conundrum was solved by Egyptian American businessman Wael 'Will' Hana, who forked over the dough to save the home.
It's the same abode the New Jersey Democrat later moved into after he married Nadine in 2020 and that was raided by the FBI as part of their investigation.
They say Hana's favor was repaid by Menendez in the form of help securing a lucrative contract for Hana's halal meat business with the Egyptian government.
According to the Justice Department indictment, the Menendez's each face a maximum of 45 years in prison if they are convicted on all charges.
After helping Nadine, Hana and the senator's wife had a falling out.
'Can you believe Will said he does not need me to make appointments with you to go see you at your office and dinner with you,' Nadine texted Menendez. 'The man has gone crazy after everything I have done for him!!!!!'
She also told attorney Howard Dorian, who had represented Hana, that she was 'quite disappointed' with the halal mogul.
'Wael asked me for a very important dinner and meetings in Washington for next week Monday which I agreed to among other things and he still has not delivered on any of his promises,' Nadine texted Dorian.
In turn, Dorian texted an associate 'It's really important that we make sure Nadine stays happy because she's not. She's going to cancel the meetings that Wael has set up with Senator Menendez for Monday.'
Some cash was found stored in a boot
'It is extremely important that we keep Nadine happy,' Dorian texted one of the businessmen involved in the scheme.
And Nadine's role in the alleged bribery scheme far surpassed just connecting Hana and her husband, say prosecutors.
She also allegedly lobbied her lawmaker husband, at Hana's request, to expressly forward the goals of Egypt.
At the time, Menendez held the powerful role of chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.