Menendez gives Senate Democrats fresh headache after Qatar gift allegations

Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) has given Senate Democrats a not-so-happy start to 2024 after a fresh round of accusations that he accepted lavish gifts in exchange for aiding a foreign government. 

The second superseding indictment — this one accusing him of receiving gifts linked to Qatar — is the latest legal trouble staring down the New Jersey Democrat after he was charged last year with bribery and acting as a foreign agent on behalf of Egypt. 

But the news also deepens the dilemma for Senate Democrats, a majority of whom have called on Menendez to resign but have not taken the more extreme step of calling for his expulsion — even as the New Jersey Democrat shows no signs of backing down. 

“If he was giving the Democratic leadership headaches last year, now we’re moving into migraine territory,” said Jim Manley, a former top aide to former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.). “It will be interesting to see how the caucus responds when they come back next week.”

Most senators were quiet on the matter Wednesday, and it remains unclear whether the latest accusations will change their public calculus.

After Menendez’s September indictment, more than 30 of his Senate Democratic colleagues called for him to step aside, but Menendez’s refusal has left them with little space to operate in short of calling for his expulsion. 

 Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) has been the only Senate Democrat to do so thus far and has remained Menendez’s preeminent agitator in the caucus. An early and consistent supporter of Menendez’s ouster, he lambasted the New Jersey Democrat after news of the new allegations emerged.

“Now, accused of selling his honor and our nation for a $24,000 watch. Accused as a foreign agent for *two* nations,” Fetterman wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “How much more before we finally expel [Menendez]?”

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has repeatedly declined to join the pro-resignation ranks despite publicly chastising his fellow tri-state Democrat. He told reporters Wednesday that Menendez’s behavior “is way below the standard of a senator,” adding that the situation is “deeply disappointing and disturbing to me.”

The Senate is set to return Monday, but it remains unlikely that an expulsion groundswell will expand past Fetterman. 

“A lot of members of the caucus are raising concerns, and I assume more will do so when they come back next week. I’m just not sure there’s a serious move afoot to call for expulsion, for better or for worse,” Manley said, adding that Schumer is handling the situation “the way his caucus wants him to handle it.”

The superseding indictment unsealed Tuesday contains no additional charges against Menendez but accuses him of making favorable statements about the Qatari government to help a New Jersey developer secure a lucrative deal there, receiving lavish gifts in exchange. These gifts allegedly included cash, gold bars, potentially a $24,000 watch and a pair of tickets to Formula One’s Miami Grand Prix in 2022. 

Menendez was initially accused of accepting cash and gold bars to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars in return for political favors to benefit three New Jersey businessmen and Egypt.  

The senator denied any wrongdoing when initially charged and maintained his innocence this week after the fresh allegations. 

“The government does not have the proof to back up any of the old or new allegations … What they have instead is a string of baseless assumptions and bizarre conjectures based on routine, lawful contacts between a Senator and his constituents or foreign officials,” said Adam Fee, an attorney for Menendez, in a statement.

“At all times, Senator Menendez acted entirely appropriately with respect to Qatar, Egypt, and the many other countries he routinely interacts with,” Fee continued. “Those interactions were always based on his professional judgment as to the best interests of the United States because he is, and always has been, a patriot. This latest Indictment only exposes the lengths to which these hostile prosecutors will go to poison the public before a trial even begins. But these new allegations don’t change a thing, and their theories won’t survive the scrutiny of the court or a jury.”

Adding to the headache for Democrats, Menendez has yet to say whether he will seek reelection this year. The filing deadline for him to decide is March 25, with the primary set for June 4 — four weeks after his trial is set to begin. The New Jersey Democrat unsuccessfully sought to delay the trial until July.

The primary race for his seat is shaping up to be a crowded one, and another candidate jumped into the race Wednesday: labor organizer Patricia Campos Medina.

According to an internal poll released by Rep. Andy Kim’s (D-N.J.) Senate campaign last month, Menendez raked in only 6 percent backing from likely voters. Kim led the field with 45 percent support over Tammy Murphy, the state’s first lady, who garnered 22 percent. 

Menendez last month kept the door open to seeking a fourth term in the upper chamber despite the poor polling numbers. 

“Of course I can. It’s all one moment in time, including your contributions to it, of negative stories,” Menendez told CNN. “When we start telling our story in January at the trial through motions … we will change that dynamic.”