(Presidentialwire.com)- Democratic Senator Bob Menendez from New Jersey is in hot water once again, only this time, it’s the actions of his wife that could get him into some trouble.
On Friday, the Wall Street Journal reported that federal prosecutors in Manhattan are conducting an investigation into whether Menendez’s wife, Nadine Arslanian, received services or gifts from people who were seeking favors from Menendez.
The WSJ reported that associates of Arslanian have already been subpoenaed as part of the investigation that’s being conducted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. Those associates have been directly asked to provide information about Arslanian as well as Menendez.
This isn’t the first time that Menendez has been under investigation, either. A probe in 2015 ended up seeing Menendez charged with corruption and bribery. Two years after the charges were handed down, though, the Democratic senator got off the hook, as it ended up as a mistrial.
The newest probe began at least as far back as 2019, the WSJ reported. It started when investigators with the federal government executed a search warrant against Wael Hana, a businessman in New Jersey who is the head of the sole company that’s allowed to certify meat exports sent to Egypt and labeled as halal. Hana is one of Arslanian’s associates.
Court documents cited by the WSJ laid out that prosecutors were looking into the possibility that undisclosed foreign lobbying was occurring. A lawyer who represents Hana in that case commented to the WSJ that Hana received the certification contract with Egypt “without any assistance whatsoever from any U.S. public official.”
Antranig Aslanian, another attorney in New Jersey, was also subpoenaed as part of the investigation, the Journal reported. He’s a long-time friend of Nadine, as both are Armenian.
Aslanian commented that he wasn’t aware of what the prosecutors were after by issuing him the subpoena.
Michael Soliman, who works as one of Menendez’s advisers, commented to the New York Post last month that the New Jersey senator was “aware of an investigation” into him but he “does not know the scope.” Soliman continued:
“As always, should any official inquiries be made, the senator is available to provide any assistance that is requested of him or his office.”
Menendez has been serving in the Senate since back in 2006. He holds a powerful position as the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which is where the allegations stated above could come into play.
The case that was brought against Menendez seven years ago alleged that he senator accepted almost $1 million worth of flights on a private jet, as well as vacations and other types of gifts from Dr. Salomon Melgen, an ophthalmologist who was seeking to get visas for his girlfriends who were from other countries.
The prosecutors in that case alleged in addition that Menendez received many large political donations in return for aiding Melgen in his bid to secure some big-dollar government contracts.
