The deal was sealed over meetings and dinner, federal prosecutors say. Officials representing Egypt’s authoritarian government wanted a powerful American’s help with weapons sales and financing. Sen. Robert Menendez and his then-girlfriend Nadine Arslanian said the senator could facilitate both.
In exchange, a New Jersey middleman − a struggling Egyptian-born business entrepreneur named Wael “Will” Hana − allegedly promised the future Mrs. Menendez a low- or no-show job. He would later sweeten the pot with wads of cash and gold bars.
In the middle of one of many encounters, Menendez − the influential chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee − and Arslanian joined an Egyptian intelligence official, Hana, and an associate for dinner at a posh Washington DC steakhouse.
Arslanian boldly cut to the chase. “What else can the love of my life do for you?” she asked.
The offer is part of the story prosecutors unspooled in a shocking indictment charging the couple and Hana with conspiring to use New Jersey’s senior senator as an eager tool of Egypt’s government. The defendants pleaded not guilty to the foreign agent charge in a New York federal courthousein October, and to bribery and extortion charges the previous month.
The indictment represents the most serious criminal charges filed against a sitting U.S. senator in recent memory, alleging that Menendez sold his position and influence to a foreign power for tawdry personal gain.
The indictment offers an intimate look at how a powerful lawmaker allegedly undermined national security for financial gain.
Read more at AOL.comhttps://www.aol.com/senator-secret-agent-robert-menendez-100211534.html
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