Senator Menendez: A Foreign Agent in the Senate
From 2018 to 2022, while serving as the powerful Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Democratic Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey engaged in a brazen bribery scheme, effectively acting as an unregistered foreign agent for Egypt and Qatar in exchange for personal benefits.
According to federal prosecutors, Menendez and his wife accepted cash, gold bars, and a luxury convertible from several businessmen. In return, Menendez leveraged his official position to benefit them and foreign governments. For Egypt, he allegedly provided sensitive U.S. information and pushed to release military aid.
The corruption later extended to Qatar. This is the same nation that recently gifted a private jet valued at over $400 million to President Donald Trump. Notably, the current U.S. Attorney General, Pam Bondi, was a registered foreign agent for the government of Qatar in 2019 and 2020 through the lobbying firm Ballard Partners. In Menendez's case, he allegedly accepted luxury watches for making public statements favorable to the Qatari government.
Significantly, the entire federal investigation and prosecution of this senior Democrat was conducted by the Department of Justice under a Democratic presidential administration. The scheme unraveled with his indictment in September 2023, culminating in his July 2024 conviction for bribery and acting as a foreign agent. Menendez resigned from the Senate shortly after and, in January 2025, was sentenced to 11 years in prison.
