OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
New Jersey Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez is once again under federal investigation, according to a published report this week. Two sources familiar with the investigation told the news site Semafor that “prosecutors in the Southern District of New York have contacted people connected to Menendez in recent weeks,” and that “they have sent at least one subpoena in the case.”
A spokesman from Menendez’s office, Michael Soliman, told the outlet, “Senator Menendez is aware of an investigation that was reported on today, however, he does not know the scope of the investigation. As always, should any official inquiries be made, the Senator is available to provide any assistance that is requested of him or his office.”
The outlet went on to report details of the first federal probe into Menendez during the Obama administration:
Menendez and a Florida eye doctor, Salomon Melgen, were indicted in 2015 for an alleged arrangement under which the doctor provided flights on a private jet and lavish vacations in exchange for the senator’s help with government contracts and other public favors. Menendez’s lawyers argued that the two men were simply good friends. The inquiry ended in a mistrial in 2017 after the jury failed to reach a verdict. (Melgen was convicted in 2017 of medicare fraud, and received clemency from President Donald Trump in 2021.)
The two people familiar with the investigation, one who is directly connected to the investigation and the other a New Jersey lawyer who has been told of the case, said that the broad outlines of the new inquiry are similar to the 2017 case. Both said that the new investigation involves an entirely different group of people, however.
Semafor correspondent Kadia Goba offered her insight into the case.
“Federal prosecutors rarely lose at trial, so it’s notable to see the Department of Justice return to Menendez after its humiliating public failure to convict him,” she wrote. “Public corruption cases also present special obstacles since a 2016 decision in which the Supreme Court overturned the conviction of former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell, and ruled that prosecutors must find explicit evidence that gifts or donations were tied to official actions.
Bob Menendez is under federal criminal investigation again, 5 years after the DOJ dropped its corruption case against the Democratic senator. https://t.co/6qxq247rY2
— Axios (@axios) October 27, 2022
“But there are also internal Justice Department divisions at play,” she added. “In 2015, charges against Menendez were brought by the Public Integrity Section in Washington after a U.S Attorney in New Jersey handed the case off. The Southern District of New York traditionally operates independently, and bears none of the responsibility for the 2018 failure.”
Earlier this month, a report noted that the country’s top Democrat, President Joe Biden, could become ensnared in the government’s ongoing investigation into alleged crimes committed by his son, Hunter Biden.
“Emails recovered by DailyMail.com from Hunter’s abandoned laptop between Hunter and Eric Schwerin, his business partner at consultancy Rosemont Seneca, show Schwerin was working on Joe’s taxes, discussing the father and son paying each other’s household bills, and even fielding requests for a book deal for the then-vice president, as well as managing the donation of Joe’s senate papers to the University of Delaware,” the outlet reported.
A former federal prosecutor who asked to remain anonymous told the outlet that the interconnectivity between all three people means that Joe Biden certainly could be part of the federal investigation into his son.
“Whatever transaction you’re looking at, if there’s a connection to a family member or a friend, sure the answer is yes [they would be investigated],” the former prosecutor told the Daily Mail.
Former U.S. intelligence official and Treasury Special Agent John Cassara, an expert in money laundering, said that if Biden were not president, it is likely that he would be in the FBI’s crosshairs.
“The information available publicly is very worrisome, particularly in the areas of corruption,” he said.
“They could go at this from all different avenues. Follow the corruption trial and then charge money laundering.
“Corruption is a predicate offense for money laundering. And besides corruption, it’s the perception of corruption. This kind of thing should not be happening. It undermines full faith in the US government. It undermines trust and our international reputation. It’s an embarrassment,” he said.
