Manhattan federal prosecutors added a foreign agent conspiracy charge to the counts Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) is facing, per a superseding indictment released on Thursday.
Menendez now faces four counts stemming from his relationship with Egyptian officials. But while the initial indictment accused Menendez of doing favors which benefitted Cairo in exchange for cash and other perks, the new charge formally accuses the former chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee of conspiring to secretly act on behalf of the Egyptian government.
TPM was first to report that Menendez allegedly worked against April Corley, an American roller skater who had been maimed in an accidental strike by Egyptian forces while on vacation there. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) had placed a hold on $300 million in military aid to Cairo pending a resolution to Corley’s case.
Per new allegations included in the indictment, Menendez, his wife Nadine Arslanian, and New Jersey businessman Wael Hana met with an Egyptian intelligence official in his Senate offices in May 2019. The indictment does not identify Corley by name, but the description of an American seeking compensation after being attacked in 2015 by a “U.S.-manufactured Apache helicopter” matches the details of her case.
There, the group allegedly discussed Corley’s case, while afterwards, Menendez allegedly searched her name on Google. One week later, prosecutors say, an Egyptian official texted Hana saying that Menendez would “sit very comfortably” if he helped resolve the matter.
“Orders, consider it done,” Hana allegedly replied. The official then allegedly forwarded screenshots of a statement from Corley, which made it to the Senator via his wife.
Prosecutors also accused Menendez of conspiring with his wife to have the DOJ, between 2020 and 2022, open an investigation into an unnamed former member of Congress over FARA.