An ongoing federal investigation into U.S. Senator Bob Menendez is focusing in part on gold bars that may have been given to Menendez by Bergen County developer Fred Daibes, according to a report released yesterday evening by NBC New York.
Much of the investigation into Menendez has reportedly centered on the Democratic senator’s connections to Daibes, who had been facing federal bank fraud charges. According to NBC New York’s report, Daibes may have given Menendez or his wife gold bars worth up to $400,000, possibly in exchange for help with the Justice Department on Daibes’ behalf.
It’s not clear exactly where the investigation currently stands, but the Wall Street Journal reported last month that prosecutors are weighing charges against Menendez. It wouldn’t be the first time the senator has faced federal corruption charges; back in 2015, Menendez was hit with bribery charges over his interactions with a Florida ophthalmologist, but the trial ended in a mistrial and he was ultimately acquitted in 2017.
Menendez is up for re-election in 2024, meaning that the timeline and outcome of the new investigation may have substantial political implications. If charges are brought against the senator, that could embolden both Republicans and Democrats in New Jersey who want to take him down.
Mendham Borough Mayor Christine Serrano Glassner, currently the leading candidate for the GOP Senate nomination next year, said in a statement that the NBC News report is a compelling argument for why Menendez needs to be shown the door.
“Today’s news about ‘Gold Bar Bob’ is further proof that it’s time for Bob Menendez’s career of cronyism to come to an end,” a spokesperson for Serrano Glassner said. “As New Jersey residents struggle with the disastrous Biden-Menendez economy, seeing their cost of living skyrocket and their real wages drop, change in the U.S. Senate can’t come fast enough.”
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