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   Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., and his wife have been charged with   
   bribery over their alleged acceptance of “hundreds of thousands of   
   dollars” in return for the use of the senator's influence to enrich   
   three New Jersey businessmen and benefit the Egyptian government,   
   according to an indictment filed in Manhattan federal court that was   
   made public Friday.   
      
   The charges include conspiracy to commit bribery, conspiracy to   
   commit honest services fraud and conspiracy to commit extortion   
   under color of official right. The bribes the couple received   
   included “cash, gold bars, payments toward a home mortgage,   
   compensation for a low-or-no-show job, a luxury vehicle and other   
   items of value,” the indictment alleges.   
      
   Federal agents said they discovered many of the items when they   
   executed search warrants in the couple’s home in Englewood Cliffs,   
   New Jersey, in June 2022. They found more than $480,000 in cash,   
   “much of it stuffed into envelopes and hidden in clothing, closets,   
   and a safe,” including jackets bearing the senator’s name that were   
   hanging in his closet, as well as more than $70,000 in Nadine   
   Menendez’s safe deposit box, the indictment alleges.   
      
   Agents also allegedly discovered a Mercedes-Benz convertible worth   
   more than $60,000 that New Jersey businessmen Wael Hana and Jose   
   Uribe gave to Menendez's wife in exchange for the senator’s   
   interference in a state prosecution of Uribe’s associate and   
   investigation into an employee whom Uribe referred to as a relative.   
   Federal agents also found gold bars worth hundreds of thousands of   
   dollars in the senator's home that were provided by Hana and another   
   businessman, Fred Daibes. All three businessmen were also charged in   
   the indictment.   
      
   Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer confirmed in a statement on   
   Friday afternoon that Menendez "has rightly decided to step down   
   temporarily" as chair of the Foreign Relations Committee until the   
   matter is resolved. A source close to Menendez had told NBC News   
   earlier in the day that he would step down from his position on the   
   panel while the case proceeds.   
      
   He dismissed the allegations against him in a statement, saying   
   prosecutors have “misrepresented the normal work of a Congressional   
   office.”   
      
   “I remain focused on continuing this important work and will not be   
   distracted by baseless allegations,” he said.   
      
   The senator is already facing resignation calls, from fellow   
   Democrats. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and some congressional   
   Democrats, including some from Menendez's home state, said Friday   
   that he should resign.   
      
   Menendez rebuffed those calls Friday night, saying in a statement   
   that some people were “rushing to judge a Latino and push him out of   
   his seat."   
      
   "I am not going anywhere,” he said.   
      
   Nadine Menendez’s lawyer, David Schertler, said in a statement that   
   she “denies any wrongdoing and will defend vigorously against these   
   allegations in court.”   
      
   The senator and his co-defendants are expected to appear in the U.S.   
   District Court for the Southern District of New York, in lower   
   Manhattan, at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, and will be arraigned later that   
   day.   
      
   The U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian   
   Williams, announced the charges at a news conference Friday.   
   Williams noted that Menendez's Senate website says he can't compel   
   an agency to act in someone's favor, influence matters involving a   
   private business or get involved in criminal matters. "But we allege   
   that behind the scenes, Sen. Menendez was doing those things for   
   certain people — the people who were bribing him and his wife," he   
   said.   
      
   The investigation in the case is ongoing, Williams said, asking that   
   anyone with knowledge of the matter call the FBI's tip line.   
      
   Among the allegations in the indictment is that Menendez "provided   
   sensitive U.S. Government information and took other steps that   
   secretly aided the Government of Egypt." It also says the senator   
   pressured an official at the U.S. Agriculture Department for the   
   purpose of protecting a business monopoly granted by Egypt to Hana,   
   who is an Egyptian American.   
      
   According to the indictment, Hana and Nadine Menendez "were friends   
   for many years" before she started dating the senator. In early   
   2018, she informed Hana that she was dating Menendez and "in the   
   following months and years," they worked to introduce Egyptian   
   intelligence and military officials to the senator "for the purpose   
   of establishing and solidifying a corrupt agreement" in which Hana,   
      
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