U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), a vocal critic of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, finds himself on the middle of a political corruption scandal.
Menendez has been charged with bribery, allegedly accepting a wide range of illicit items, together with gold, money, and mortgage funds, in alternate for abusing his energy and affect.
The fees come after years of Menendez’s condemnation of cryptocurrencies, which he has accused of facilitating felony actions and aiding overseas entities in evading U.S. sanctions.
The indictment, filed final week, outlines the alleged corrupt relationship between Menendez and three businessmen in his house state—Wael Hana, Jose Uribe, and Fred Daibes. It states that Menendez and his spouse, Nadine Menendez, accepted tons of of 1000’s of {dollars} in bribes between 2018 and 2022.
Federal prosecutors additional declare that Menendez compromised delicate U.S. authorities info to profit the federal government of Egypt.
For occasion, Menendez allegedly used his affect to halt a felony investigation in New Jersey towards Jose Uribe and safeguard an Egyptian enterprise monopoly held by Wael Hana. This monopoly performed a job in funding the alleged bribes obtained by Menendez.
In response to the costs, Menendez firmly denied the allegations, stating, “I remain focused on continuing this important work and will not be distracted by baseless allegations.”
He now faces three federal fees: conspiracy to commit bribery, conspiracy to commit sincere companies fraud, and conspiracy to commit extortion beneath colour of official proper, with a possible jail sentence of as much as 20 years if convicted.
Menendez’s Bitcoin Stance
The indictment revealed that Menendez used conventional means to hide his alleged ill-gotten features, in stark distinction to his earlier stance on cryptocurrencies. He had as soon as expressed issues about Bitcoin’s anonymity, suggesting it might be exploited by criminals.
Menendez had made a reputation for himself within the crypto world by co-sponsoring the Accountability for Cryptocurrency in El Salvador (ACES) Act in 2022, which raised issues about El Salvador adopting Bitcoin as authorized tender.
One of the invoice’s different co-sponsors, Jim Risch (R-Idaho), stated on the time that adopting Bitcoin as authorized tender would “empower malign actors,” inside he area. The third, Bill Cassidy (R-La.), stated it might “open the door for money laundering cartels” whereas threatening the greenback’s world reserve foreign money standing.
He additionally criticized Facebook’s Libra mission in 2019, fearing it may change into a haven for cash launderers and nations in search of to bypass U.S. sanctions.
