US Senator Bob Menendez allegedly bribed with 'stacks of gold bars' and cash

Senator Bob Menendez from New Jersey and his wife are in big trouble. They're being accused of doing something very wrong. It's like they were taking bribes. 

Some people say they took money, gold bars, and even a fancy car as part of a secret deal with three businessmen from New Jersey. 

It's said they got a lot of stuff - over $500,000 in cash, piles of gold bars, $23,000 to help pay off Nadine Menendez's mortgage, money for a job she didn't really do, a fancy Mercedes-Benz car, and some other valuable things like an air purifier and exercise gear, as mentioned in the legal charges.

The charges against them say that Senator Menendez shared secret information from the U.S. government with Egypt, and he also pushed someone to help one of those businessmen in Egypt.

They say that Senator Menendez used his power and influence to stop a criminal investigation against one of the businessmen in New Jersey. 

And they even say that he recommended someone to be the top lawyer in New Jersey because he thought that person would help one of the businessmen with a banking problem.

The investigation is still going on, so we don't have all the answers yet.

Senator Menendez had to step down from a very important job because of these charges. He was in charge of a group that makes decisions about selling military stuff and giving help to Egypt. Now someone else is doing that job.

Senator Menendez became a senator in 2006 and has been elected twice since then.

He got married to Nadine in 2020, and she was friends with one of those businessmen from Egypt. They say that after they got together, they introduced the senator to people from the Egyptian government to try to make a deal.

The charges say that when the police searched their house, they found a lot of money and gold that they got from this deal. They also found a fancy car. The government wants to take all these things away from them.

Senator Menendez and his wife are facing three charges: one for making a plan to take bribes, one for trying to trick people with their job, and one for trying to take things by using their power.

But Senator Menendez says he didn't do anything wrong. He thinks the police are going after his wife because of her friends, and he promises to keep doing his job in the Senate.

This is not the first time Senator Menendez has been in trouble. In 2015, he was accused of taking expensive gifts and campaign money from a doctor. But he didn't get punished because the jury couldn't decide if he was guilty or not.

The doctor got in trouble for something else and went to jail, but then former President Trump let him out early because Senator Menendez asked him to.

The new charges say that Senator Menendez and his wife took a lot of bribes from 2018 to 2022, including money, gold, and even help with their house. They say it was all part of a plan to use the senator's power to help the businessmen and Egypt.

Some people are saying that Senator Menendez should resign from his job because of these charges. They say he's been involved in shady stuff for a long time.

Senator Menendez is trying to set up a special fund to pay for lawyers to help him with this case. The fund will be run by him and his campaign treasurer.

These charges against Senator Menendez come after the Supreme Court made it harder to convict politicians and other people for doing bad things related to their jobs in government. They've been letting some people off the hook for things that used to be considered crimes.