Senator Bob Menendez Charged With Three Criminal Counts

High-profile Democrat Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ), chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has been indicted in New York on three criminal charges after a long running corruption probe and six years after a federal prosecution against Menendez ended with a hung jury.

• Reuters reports: "US attorney's office accuses the defendants of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars of bribes in exchange for using Robert Menendez's power and influence as a senator to seek to protect and enrich the businessmen and benefit the government of Egypt."
• According to Reuters, "The attorney's office says the bribes included cash, gold, payments toward a home mortgage, compensation for a low-or-no-show job, a luxury vehicle and other things of value."
• The indictment is unlikely to have an immediately impact on the Senate but it may add credibility to Republican allegations of Democrat corruption ahead of an election cycle which will be dominated by the legal cases against former President Donald Trump.
• Should Menendez resign his seat ahead of the 2024 election, New Jersey Governor Philip Murphy (D-NJ), would be responsible for appointing a successor.