(UnitedVoice.com) – Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) has a record of public service spanning nearly four decades. He has served as mayor of Union City and in both legislative chambers in New Jersey and Washington, DC. Menendez currently chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and has headed up the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and the Democratic Caucus. However, he’s also had his fair share of troubles over the years.
Mired in Controversies
Although Menendez’s political experience has fairly been described as wide-ranging, one thing has remained constant — controversy. A few examples of his scandal-plagued career include:
- 2006: two New Jersey lawmakers filed an ethics complaint against Menendez alleging violations of “conflict-of-interest” rules.
- 2012: Daily Caller published allegations he had contact with underage prostitutes in the Dominican Republic.
- 2015: Department of Justice indicted Menendez on multiple charges, including bribery, making false statements, and fraud. In 2017, the judge overseeing his trial declared a mistrial after the jury deadlocked and later dismissed the charges at the prosecutors’ request.
- 2022: Allegations emerged that Menendez may have offered unwarranted favorable treatment to an Egyptian firm in his role as head of the Foreign Relations Committee.
Unsurprisingly, the embattled senator is facing a new crisis involving a controversial sale.
Menendez Faces Serious Inquiries
On June 27, The Washington Free Beacon published a stunning exposé regarding the alleged sale of gold bullion by Menendez and his wife, businesswoman Nadine Arslanian. They reportedly sold as much as $400,000 of gold over three months, ending in June 2022.
The Free Beacon reported that it uncovered the sale from recently released financial reports filed by the senator. Menendez previously failed to report his wife’s ownership of gold bullion bars worth between $100,001 and $250,000 in 2020. He filed an amended report in 2022 listing those assets.
The recent sale occurred amid an ongoing criminal inquiry into Menendez and his wife’s involvement in a scandal and federal probe involving a New Jersey-based importer accused of paying bribes to obtain licenses to export meat overseas. The Washington Free Beacon discussed the possible connection between that ongoing investigation and the senator’s recent bullion sale. However, it conceded that it remains unclear if the two situations are related.
Additionally, a review of Menendez’s financial disclosure raised questions regarding the accuracy of the 2022 declaration that his wife owned as much as $250,000 in gold bullion. The latest filing indicated the couple could hold as much as $650,000 of the precious metal — nearly three times the amount listed before.
The senator’s office declined to respond to a request for a response from The Washington Free Beacon.
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