Menendez pleads 'not guilty' to foreign agent charge

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Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., appeared in a Manhattan court Monday afternoon where he pleaded "not guilty" to an additional charge of acting as a foreign agent. Menendez left court Monday afternoon just before 3:30 without any comments to reporters. 

Menendez allegedly acted as an agent for the Egyptian government during his time as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Menendez stepped down from the post when the first indictment was unsealed on Sept. 23 but remains on the committee.

The other defendants in the indictment — including his wife Nadine Menendez — also entered into not guilty pleas in the superseding indictment last week. 

DEMOCRAT SEN. BOB MENENDEZ ACCUSED OF ACTING AS A FOREIGN AGENT IN SUPERSEDING INDICTMENT

Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey and his wife Nadine Menendez arrive to the federal courthouse in New York, Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Menendez, D-N.J., faces the additional charge of acting as a foreign agent and accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars of bribes to benefit the Egyptian government through his "power and influence as a Senator," according to the superseding indictment filed by a grand jury in Manhattan on Oct. 12.

A superseding indictment is a formal document issued by a grand jury that replaces and expands upon a previous indictment in a criminal case. It is used when new evidence or charges arise after an initial indictment has been issued. In a previous statement to Fox News Digital after publication, Menendez denied the new charges and insisted he has always been "loyal to only one country — the United States of America."

MSNBC'S ALICIA MENENDEZ ADDRESSES FATHER'S INDICTMENT: COLLEAGUES HAVE 'AGGRESSIVELY' COVERED

Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey and his wife Nadine Menendez arrive to the federal courthouse in New York, Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023.  (AP Photo/Jeenah Moon)

Menendez, along with his wife Nadine and three other New Jersey businessmen — Wael Hana, Jose Uribe and Fred Daibes — were first charged in the federal bribery scheme on Sept. 23.

"Among other actions, MENENDEZ provided sensitive U.S. Government information and took other steps that secretly aided the Government of Egypt," the indictment states.

"It was a part and an object of the conspiracy that ROBERT MENENDEZ, the defendant, and others known and unknown, being a public official, directly and indirectly, would and did corruptly demand, seek, receive, accept, and agree to receive and accept something of value personally and for another person and entity, in return for being influenced in the performance of an official act and for being induced to do an act and omit to do an act in violation of his official duty," the indictment reads.

DEMOCRAT SEN BOB MENENDEZ FACING INDICTMENT ON BRIBERY CHARGES

Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey arrives to the federal courthouse in New York, Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023.  (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

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The new indictment shows a photo of Menendez, Nadine and Hana with unidentified Egyptian officials in Menendez's Senate office in 2018. Prosecutors allege the meeting included talks of "foreign military financing to Egypt."

FBI and IRS criminal investigators allege that Menendez and his wife accepted several gold bars and other gifts from Daibes, a New Jersey developer and former bank chairman accused of banking crimes. Menendez allegedly worked to help appoint a prosecutor who would be sympathetic to Daibes, according to the indictment.

The unsealed indictment alleges that from at least 2018 through 2022, Menendez and his wife, Nadine, "engaged in a corrupt relationship" with Daibes, Hana and Uribe.

The couple is accused of accepting "hundreds of thousands of dollars of bribes in exchange for using Menendez's power and influence as a senator to seek to protect and enrich Hana, Uribe, and Daibes and to benefit the Arab Republic of Egypt."