Bob Menendez Isn’t Merely Corrupt. He Carried Water for a Brutal Dictator.
Bob Menendez’s cartoonish bribery case — complete with gold bars and a Mercedes-Benz — isn’t just exhibit A in Washington corruption. It’s a reminder that US allies like Egypt’s dictatorship, not Russia or China, are often the ones meddling in US politics.
Senator Bob Menendez and his wife Nadine arrive for a court appearance at Manhattan Federal Court on September 27, 2023 in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago / Getty Images)
At a time when political discourse is suffused with talk of shadowy conspiracies and the Russian or Chinese governments lurking behind all manner of domestic ills plaguing the United States, it’s good to be reminded that the foreign states that most frequently interfere in US politics are often not those seen as enemies, but as friends. Just look at the Bob Menendez indictment.
New Jersey’s long-serving Democratic senator, Menendez, along with his wife and three businessmen, was slapped with bribery charges last Friday over sensational allegations that would not be out of place in the Russiagate saga or in a right-wing cable news screed about “China Joe.” The twist: the foreign government that Menendez was working for was the despotic but friendly government of Egypt.
“Our Man” in America
The charges are quite something. According to the indictment, Menendez — who has sat on the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee since 2007, for four years as chairman — carried water for the Egyptian government through his connection to Egyptian-American businessman Wael Hana, whom he met through his girlfriend (and, later, wife), and who had connections with Egyptian intelligence, military, and other government officials. Menendez was such a reliable conduit for Egyptian state interests, according to the indictment, that at one point Hana referred to him as “our man.”
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