Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., has been indicted on federal bribery charges, the Department of Justice announced on Friday.
“A press event will be held today at 11:00 a.m. to announce the unsealing of an indictment charging Robert Menendez, U.S. Senator from New Jersey, and his wife, Nadine Menendez, with bribery offenses in connection with their corrupt relationship with three New Jersey businessmen,” the DOJ said in a statement.
Menendez’s office did not immediately return a request for comment.
The charges come after a yearlong corruption probe led by Damian Williams, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
The federal investigation focused on whether the powerful Senate Foreign Relations chair and his wife Nadine Arslanian improperly took cash and gifts including jewelry, use of a Mercedes-Benz and a luxury apartment and gold bars worth as much as $400,000. It also scrutinized any actions Menendez might have taken to help his benefactors.
Menendez has previously denied any wrongdoing. “I am sure it is going to end up in absolutely nothing,” he said of the probe in May.
The indictment is the second Menendez has faced since first being elected to the Senate in 2006.
He was charged in 2015 with illegally accepting favors from a Florida eye doctor, including flights on a private jet, three nights at a five-star hotel in Paris and more than $700,000 in political contributions.
The case ended in a mistrial after jurors were unable to reach a unanimous verdict. Federal prosecutors decided not to retry him.
Menendez is up for re-election next year. In 2018, he was elected to a third term with 54% of the vote.