US Senator Bob Menendez introduced a member of the Qatari royal family and principal in a company with ties to the government of Qatar to a New Jersey businessman before the company invested millions of dollars in the businessman’s real estate project, a rewritten indictment alleges.
Lawyers for the corrupt lawmaker claim that Menendez is immune from prosecution for using his office to help a foreign government buy influence and without a direct quid pro quo, the action fails to measure up to the definition of a crime.
The latest version of the indictment against the Democrat in Manhattan federal court doesn’t identify the member of the Qatari royal family, but it says the individual is a principal of the Qatari Investment Co.
The indictment says the Qatari investor then considered and negotiated a multimillion-dollar investment in the real estate project planned by Fred Daibes, one of three businessmen charged in the indictment along with the senator and his wife. All of them have pleaded not guilty.
No new charges are added to the latest version of an indictment that already charged Menendez in a bribery conspiracy that allegedly enriched the senator and his wife with cash, gold bars and a luxury car. The allegations involving Qatar occurred from 2021 through 2023, the indictment says.
According to the indictment, Menendez accepted cash and gold bars in exchange for seeking to induce the Qatari Investment Co. to invest with Daibes, including by taking actions favorable to the government of Qatar.
The indictment says that while the Qatari Investment Co. was considering its investment in the real estate development owned by Daibes, Menendez made multiple public statements supporting the government of Qatar and then provided them to Daibes so he could share them with the Qatari investor and a Qatari government official.
Menendez asked a federal judge Wednesday to dismiss charges that claim he accepted bribes in exchange for official favors to three North Jersey businessmen and two foreign nations, arguing many of the charges fail to meet a constitutional test that bars prosecutions for members of Congress over official actions.
In the latest court filing, Menendez argued that prosecutors relied on certain actions the U.S. Constitution bars for prosecutorial use, citing a 2016 U.S. Supreme Court decision in McDonnell v. United States that sharply limited the scope of the federal bribery statute by narrowing the definition of “official act” to exclude meetings, event hosting, and calls to other public officials.
The senator faces a raft of corruption charges, including conspiracies to commit bribery, honest services fraud, and extortion under the color of official right.
He is also accused of acting as a foreign agent for Egypt and Qatar, charges that are unprecedented for a sitting member of Congress.