Embattled New Jersey Democrat Bob Menendez has converted his party affiliation to run for Senate as an independent as he faces trial on federal bribery charges.
The senator filed to run as an independent a day before the deadline. By running for re-election, he can continue to spend campaign dollars on legal fees.
Menendez has denied any wrongdoing in the corruption trial and has pleaded not guilty.
Rep. Andy Kim, who is running for the seat on the Democratic side, has warned that a third-party runaway from Menendez could jeopardize the seat in typically deep blue New Jersey.
Menendez announced in March that he would not seek 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 be filing for the Democratic primary in June,” he said in a video statement at the time. “I am hopeful that my exoneration will occur this summer and that I will be able to continue 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 involving gold bars, hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and a luxury Mercedes-Benz.
Last week, prosecutors in court laid bare the “desperate” financial situation of Menendez and his wife Nadine, apparently to link their need for cash to the gifts and gold bars allegedly given to them by the businessmen who were co-defendants in the case.
Menendez’s lawyers have argued that the 13 gold bars and $480,000 in cash stored in clothes, shoes and a safe discovered by the FBI during a raid on the couple’s home were there because of the senator’s trauma by the squandering of his family’s fortune before his assassination. born in 1954.
They claim his fear of going without stems from the fact that his parents’ assets were seized in Castro’s Cuba more than half a century ago.
Nadine’s home in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, was in danger of foreclosure after she missed nearly $20,000 in mortgage payments in 2019, before she and the senator married.
Nadine and Bob Menendez together during a dinner in honor of French President Emmanuel Macron
During the raid, authorities found $480,000 in cash scattered throughout the home
Tons of cash was also found stashed in bags
But prosecutors say her money riddle was solved by Egyptian-American businessman Wael “Will” Hana, who considered the money to save the house.
It’s the same home the New Jersey Democrat later moved to after marrying Nadine in 2020 and 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 men face a maximum of 45 years in prison if convicted on all charges.
After helping Nadine, Hana and the senator’s wife got into an argument.
“Can you believe Will said I don’t have to make arrangements with you to go to your office and have dinner with you,” Nadine Menendez texted. “The man has gone crazy after everything I’ve done for him!!!!!”
She also told attorney Howard Dorian, who had represented Hana, that she was “quite disappointed” with the halal tycoon.
“Wael asked me for a very important dinner and meetings in Washington next Monday, which I agreed to, among other things, and he still hasn’t kept his promises,” Nadine texted Dorian.
In turn, Dorian texted an employee: ‘It’s very important that we make sure Nadine stays happy, because she isn’t. She is going to cancel the meetings that Wael has arranged with Senator Menendez for Monday.”
Some cash was found stored in a trunk
“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 went far beyond just connecting Hana and her husband, prosecutors say.
She is also said to have lobbied her lawmaker husband at Hana’s request to express Egypt’s goals.
At the time, Menendez held the powerful role of chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.