A History of Bob Menendez In Ten Objects

Who among us has not kept gold bars and half a mil in cash within the privacy of our own homes?

This is a gold bar that the FBI found when it raided the home of New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez and his wife Nadine in June 2022. The agents found gold bars valued at more than $100,000.

This is some cash found in the home of Bob and Nadine Menendez. The FBI agents found cash in excess of $480,000. Another $70,000 was found in a safety deposit box belonging to Nadine Menendez.

This is a 2019 Mercedes-Benz C-300 convertible that the FBI agents found at the home of Bob and Nadine Menendez. In 2019 prices for this model started at $52,845. “A C-heap-class it isn't,” wrote Motor Trend magazine, “but if you can stand living without some of the features, it can be a decent luxury value.”

This is some more gold that the FBI found at the home of Bob and Nadine Menendez.

By now you may be getting the impression that Bob and Nadine Menendez are not honest people. The Justice Department got that impression too, and last week it indicted Menendez for bribery. Menendez says he’s innocent.

This is the indictment.

Here’s what Menendez said about the cash and the gold bars:

For 30 years I have withdrawn thousands of dollars in cash from my personal savings account which I have kept for emergencies and because of the history of my family facing confiscation in Cuba. These were monies drawn from my personal savings account based on the income I have lawfully derived over those 30 years.

Who among us has not found ourselves at home and in immediate need of half a million in cash and another $100,000 in gold bars? Not everybody will take a check or credit card, or be willing to wait while you pay a visit to the bank.

As for the Mercedes, Menendez happens to be somebody on whom people—in this instance, three New Jersey businessmen, one of whom enjoys a monopoly on certifying as halal meat exports to Egypt, and the somewhat dodgy government of Egypt—enjoy bestowing gifts.

Previously, the Senate Ethics Committee took note of “numerous things of value” that Menendez accepted from one Dr. Salomen Melgen, including free travel on private and commercial flights, a free hotel suite in Paris at the Park Hyatt, and lodging (19 times!) at Melgen’s Dominican villa.

This is a view of the Place Vendôme from a Park Hyatt balcony. C’est beau, n’est-ce pas? The column was put up by Napoleon to celebrate his victory in the 1805 Battle of Austerlitz.

This is Melgen’s Dominican villa. Es hermoso, ¿no?

This is a 2015 bribery indictment of Menendez and Melgen related to the gifts shown above. They beat the rap in 2017 through a hung jury.

Dr. Salomon Melgen is an eye doctor, based in Palm Beach, Florida. In 2018 he was sentenced to 17 years in prison for defrauding Medicare and other health insurers by falsely diagnosing elderly patients with macular degeneration. In 2021, President Donald Trump, on his way out the door, pardoned Melgen.

This is the Trump White House statement about Melgen’s pardon. Please note that it cited Menendez as one of the people who’d pressed for Melvin’s pardon. The White House statement also praised Melgen’s “generosity.”

Now Menendez is under indictment again, and Trump is defending him as a fellow victim of political persecution, as are many congressional Republicans. In my latest New Republic piece I argue that this demonstrates that Trump and the GOP have moved beyond being corrupt to being, on a bipartisan basis, pro-corruption. You can read it here.

I wrote this piece for the web, so it doesn’t exist as a physical object. Otherwise I’d furnish a picture of that, too.