Senator Bob Menendez' Wife, Nadine Arslanian, Faces 45 Years Behind Bars

New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez’ wife, Nadine Arslanian, faces up to 45 years in prison if convicted on bribery and corruption charges. The senator is also currently in a corruption trial of his own, his second in less than a decade.

Senator Bob Menendez is on trial for accusations of selling arms to a foreign government, corruption, bribery, disrupting a federal criminal prosecution, and more that sound too unbelievable to be true. But it’s all true. Or at least it’s all in the press release the United States Attorney’s Office Southern District of New York released in September 2023. They included photos too. Have you ever seen a photo of a gold bar in a Justice Department press release?

It's unfair to say any adult is responsible for any other adult, let alone a 70-year-old United States senator. But it is fair to say that the case about the senator from New Jersey started soon after Bob and Nadine started dating. According to the press release the Justice Department sent out, the timeline pretty much says Bob is in hot water thanks to Nadine.

The release explains, “ROBERT MENENDEZ is the senior U.S. Senator from New Jersey and currently the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee ('SFRC'). NADINE MENENDEZ began dating MENENDEZ in February 2018, they became engaged in October 2019, and they married in October 2020." Why would a press release from the Justice Department care about a romantic relationship's timeline?

It continues, "Shortly after they began dating in 2018, NADINE MENENDEZ introduced MENENDEZ to her long-time friend WAEL HANA, who is originally from Egypt, lived in New Jersey, and maintained close connections with Egyptian officials. HANA was also business associates with FRED DAIBES, a New Jersey real estate developer and long-time donor to MENENDEZ, and JOSE URIBE, who worked in the New Jersey insurance and trucking business.”

There’s nothing wrong or illegal about introducing your new partner to your pals. It may be a bit wrong or illegal if those pals are working on behalf of foreign governments.

“The Indictment alleges that MENENDEZ and his wife, NADINE MENENDEZ, accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars of bribes from HANA, URIBE, and DAIBES in exchange for MENENDEZ’s agreement to use his official position to protect and enrich them and to benefit the Government of Egypt." The release also details how the senator allegedly agreed to pressure an official at the Department of Agriculture to help Egypt, help disrupt a federal trial to help one of Uribe's pals, and more.

Speaking of those bribes, the FBI found over a half million dollars stuffed in clothes, closets, safe in Bob and Nadine's home and in a safety deposit box of Nadine. They also found over $100,000 in gold bars. The FBI found 13 gold bars in a senator's home.

The senator’s trial began May 13. Nicole has a separate trial scheduled to begin in July. The senator and his wife have both pleaded not guilty.