Bob Menendez Indicted: Egypt Tried to Keep U.S. Military Aid Flowing Through Bribery and Corruption

On Friday, Democratic Senator Bob Menendez and his wife were accused by federal prosecutors of accepting bribes in exchange for using his position to increase U.S. assistance to Egypt and to do favors for three New Jersey businessmen, including Wael Hana, an Egyptian American who ran a lucrative business certifying halal meat exports. “Egypt is a major meat importer,” says Lina Attalah, publisher of the independent Cairo-based news website Mada Masr that investigated the monopolization of halal certification in 2019. “What was straightforward financial corruption had this major political tentacle that affects bilateral relations to a great extent.” Menendez has stepped down as head of the Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee, but as he faces growing pressure to resign from his role as senator, New Jersey-based reporter Bob Hennelly says, the state’s political establishment that enabled him for years now appears ready to let him fend for himself. Democrats “really can’t afford to have Bob Menendez hanging around,” says Hennelly, who reports that Menendez has faced serious corruption charges in the past but retained his Senate seat. “This is what he does.”