Montenegro family It’s a documentary, I always like to say. Mafia shows from the early 2000s captured the New Jersey where I grew up. Although the glory days of organized crime are long over, local politics is still imbued with the spirit of Tony Underworld: behind-the-scenes maneuvering and deal-making among local powerhouses.
The downfall of Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) is a good example of this spirit. menendez is convicted Tuesday over bribery scheme involving gold bullion real Montenegro family style– dark meat business. He could face 10 years in prison northjersey.com Menendez reportedly tell his allies He will resign on Wednesday.
Ironically, the serious corruption in which Menendez engaged opened the door to clean politics in New Jersey. After Menendez got into legal trouble, state Democrats tried to install an unpopular successor. Rep. Andy King (D-N.J.) and other dissident Democrats filed a lawsuit demanding A more open entry-level processforcing the country to adopt reforms.
Menendez escapes Suspected of corruption In the past, this scandal mixed low-level corruption in New Jersey politics with high-level international intrigue and national security concerns. Menendez and his wife, Nadine Arslanian, became involved in a deal with Egyptian-American meat importer Wael Hana egyptian intelligence officerthey provide them with information and help with arms deals.
For example, in February 2018, Arslanian Sent voicemail “I have a favor to ask of you,” she said to “my very handsome senator.” She wanted him to meet with the Egyptian general at the Egyptian embassy in Washington. A few months later, Menendez Sending text messages Arslanian will approve a detailed list of U.S. arms sales to Egypt. He told Arslanian to forward it to Hana, who forwarded it to Egyptian officials.
Prosecutors testified that the unidentified agents even trying to intimidate U.S. diplomat Brett Tate, concerned about Hana’s growing monopoly on Egyptian beef liver imports, followed Hana around Cairo and searched his apartment.
“I have always been a patriot of my country and my country,” Menendez explain When leaving the courthouse. “I have never been a foreign agent.”
To a certain extent, his loyalty to himself was not wrong. Menendez, the former chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is committed to getting anyone in New Jersey to help him and Arslanian. Their engagement with Egypt was simply an extension of local politics, as Hana happened to be a constituency.
court also convicted Local real estate developer Fred Daibes bribed Menendez to quell a bank fraud case and bring Qatari investors into Daibes’ business. Another local businessman, Jose Uribe, had offered Arslanian a limousine to evade a criminal investigation, but he reneged on it testify against Menendez.
The most salacious part of the case was the gold bars. The FBI found 13 gold bars in Arslanian’s home, and Menendez’s search history shows how many gold bars he found one kilogram of gold Well worth the return trip from Egypt. menendez trying to hint The reason he hid the gold was because his Cuban-American family suffered the trauma of communism, which doesn’t make much sense since the Menéndez family left Cuba years before the communists took power.
Menendez made New Jersey a bipartisan laughingstock. Senator John Fetterman (D-Pa.) feud Menendez has been teased for the past few months. He even hired George Santos, another former congressman facing criminal charges, to develop a plan. video message “Bobby from Jersey”.
At the Republican National Convention on Wednesday night, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) joke “Inflation has gotten so bad that you can no longer bribe Democratic senators with just cash. You have to use gold bullion so the bribe retains its value!”
