Feds investigating if Menendez and wife got gifts including D.C. apartment, Mercedes and jewelry
The Justice Department is investigating whether expensive gifts were given to Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., and his wife, including a Mercedes and an apartment.
The Department of Justice is investigating whether expensive gifts were given to New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez and his wife, including a Mercedes-Benz, a luxury D.C. apartment, money and jewelry, sources familiar with the matter said.
According to sources, investigators want to know if the gifts — which would be valued in the tens of thousands of dollars — came from the owner or associates of an Edgewater, N.J., business that won a controversial exclusive contract to perform Halal meat certification with the Egyptian government — even though U.S. Department of Agriculture officials complained that the firm had no previous experience in this field.
The questions about the gifts were first reported by WNBC and NBC New York.
“I am sure it is going to end up in absolutely nothing,” Menendez said last week, denying any wrongdoing in connection with the ongoing federal corruption investigation.
Sources familiar with the matter say Damian Williams, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, along with FBI and IRS-Criminal Investigation agents are looking into whether the senator and his wife, Nadine Arslanian, improperly took gifts from the owner or associates of IS EG Halal — and whether the senator took any action in return.
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