NOT GREAT, BOB — Federal authorities today unveiled stunning criminal corruption charges against Sen. BOB MENENDEZ (D-N.J.) and his wife, NADINE, which will immediately upend his political career and likely force him to step down as Senate Foreign Relations chair. The allegations document corruption so brazen it looks like something out of a movie — or at least a bygone era of New Jersey politics — and with significant international implications. The Menendezes stand accused of taking large sums of money to sway American foreign policy more favorably toward Egypt and benefit three Jersey businessmen. More from Erica Orden and Matt Friedman … Joe Gould and Eric Bazail-Eimil dive into the indictment When law enforcement searched Menendez’s home, they turned up $480,000 in cash hidden away, $70,000 more in Nadine’s safe deposit box and $100,000 worth of gold bars — and yes, there are photos in the 39-page indictment, including one of bundles of cash found inside a Menendez-monogrammed jacket. In just one of many incredible details, prosecutors allege that Menendez returned from an Egypt trip in 2021 and searched online for “how much is one kilo of gold worth.” Authorities say Menendez also received payments on his mortgage and a luxury car as bribes. The official charges for the couple are conspiracy to commit bribery, conspiracy to commit honest services fraud and conspiracy to commit extortion. The businessmen were also charged. All are set to appear in a Manhattan courtroom Wednesday and are, of course, innocent until proven guilty. In a defiant statement, Menendez defended himself against “baseless allegations” and theorized that he was being targeted by “the powers that be” because “they see me as an obstacle in the way of their broader political goals.” He also harked back to his 2018 acquittal on unrelated corruption charges to warn that there’s another side to the story. Now as then, he suggested prosecutors have “misrepresented the normal work of a Congressional office” and mischaracterized “longstanding friendships.” “They wrote these charges as they wanted; the facts are not as presented,” he said. “Prosecutors did that the last time and look what a trial demonstrates.” Still, the new set of allegations are much more dire and well documented than the prior case, which centered around trips and campaign contributions. Per the indictment, prosecutors say that Menendez:
- “provided sensitive U.S. Government information and took other steps that secretly aided the Government of Egypt,” including plans to keep “foreign military sales and foreign military financing” flowing despite human rights worries that might have cut them off;
- tried to intervene in a criminal investigation into one of the businessmen;
- recommended a nominee for U.S. attorney in New Jersey whom he thought he could sway on a different businessman’s prosecution; and
- tried to influence the Department of Agriculture to benefit one of the businessmen.
“The Senate Historical Office says Menendez appears to be the first sitting senator in U.S. history to have been indicted on two unrelated criminal allegations,” AP’s Jake Offenhartz reports. While most New Jersey pols and Democratic Party leaders have been quiet so far, Citizens for Responsibility & Ethics in Washington has called on Menendez to resign. If Menendez does resign, New Jersey Gov. PHIL MURPHY would appoint his replacement. There’s no shortage of ambitious Democratic politicians in the state. Menendez was planning to run for reelection next year, and though he survived easily in 2018 after his last scandal, Republicans would love to take him on again now. Speaking of scandal-plagued Garden State pols: Former Gov. JIM McGREEVEY is laying the groundwork for a comeback bid for Jersey City mayor, NYT’s Tracey Tully reports. Happy Friday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at eokun@politico.com.
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WAR IN UKRAINE BIG MOVE — President JOE BIDEN told Ukrainian President VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY that the U.S. will start providing a small number of the long-range Army Tactical Missile Systems Kyiv has sought, NBC’s Courtney Kube, Julie Tsirkin, Monica Alba and Gabe Gutierrez scooped. THE ECONOMY STRIKE WATCH — The United Auto Workers is ramping up its strike: The union announced today that it will expand the walk-off to 38 more GM and Stellantis facilities across the country, per Nick Niedzwiadek. Ford was spared, as UAW President SHAWN FAIN said they were making more progress in those talks. The facilities are mostly small, but several thousand more workers are now set to strike. Read the UAW’s status report Fain also officially invited Biden to come join the picket line in comments on Facebook Live, WaPo’s Jeanne Whalen, Lauren Kaori Gurley and Jeff Stein report. A LITTLE TOO CONFIDENT — From D.C. to Wall Street, everybody’s feeling better these days that the U.S. will avoid tipping into a recession. But the unison could make economists or policymakers complacent — and the threat of something going wrong is rising, Sam Sutton reports. From strikes to a shutdown to student loan payments to gas prices to borrowing costs, plenty of potential economic disruptions are looming. CONGRESS NEW — “Schumer in talks with McConnell as shutdown fears grow: ‘We may now have to go first,’” by CNN’s Manu Raju LATEST FROM McCARTHY — Speaker KEVIN McCARTHY is now planning to strip $300 million in funds for training of Ukrainians from the Defense spending bill as he tries to get it passed, a concession to Rep. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-Ga.) and other hard-liners, per Punchbowl’s Jake Sherman. That will go up for a separate vote. The rule for the Defense bill is aiming for a Tuesday vote, per Jordain Carney. He also plans to try to pass a partisan stopgap bill next week. BRACING FOR SHUTDOWN — As Washington careens toward a government shutdown, WaPo’s Tony Romm diagrams how the funding lacuna would hurt not only federal workers but Americans across the country. Among the interruptions that could mess up people’s lives: Some food safety and drinking water inspections would stop. Older people could struggle with getting new Medicare cards or resolving benefits issues. Aid programs for disasters like the Maui wildfires could stumble. Closed passport offices may ruin travel plans. And safety net programs will march toward running out of money. That’s to say nothing of the millions of federal employees who would go without pay.
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PLAYBOOKERS IN MEMORIAM — “Dick Clark, a Democrat who won a US Senate seat by walking across Iowa, dies at 95,” by the Des Moines Register’s Stephen Gruber-Miller: “His work on the Foreign Relations Committee included chairing a subcommittee overseeing Africa, where he advocated for the end of apartheid in South Africa. … Clark then became a senior fellow and director of the congressional program at the Aspen Institute, where he organized seminars to educate members of Congress on policy issues.” SPOTTED: Michael Wolff at Michael’s in NYC for lunch with Andy Stein. OUT AND ABOUT — SPOTTED at a fundraiser at Ali and Charlie Whitley’s home for Changemakers, the PAC founded by Emily Lampkin with Ellen Walter to support Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin flipping the state Senate and holding the state House: Barry Bennett, Brooks Brunson-Pitts, Kristyn and Wally Burnett, Karrie and Aaron Cohen, Julie Conway, Marlene Colucci, Chris Cox, Gina and Rick Dearborn, Lee Dunn, Lavin Gartland, Cathy and Ed Gillespie, and Zac Moffatt. — SPOTTED last night at a happy hour hosted by Hart Research for women in the polling industry: Laurie Yang, Molly O’Rourke, Alicia Simmons, Claire Chen, Alana Jenis, Maya Mosley, Nina Bajracharya, Kelly Schmitz, Uchenna Ijezie, Livia Baer-Bositis, Kat Ignatova and Celinda Lake. — The ASCAP Foundation hosted a “We Write the Songs” event and dance party at the Library of Congress on Wednesday night, ahead of an advocacy day urging Congress to protect music creators’ rights. SPOTTED: Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) and Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), and Reps. Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.), Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), Derek Kilmer (D-Wash.), Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Pa.), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), Mark Green (R-Tenn.), Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), Judy Chu (D-Calif.), Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), Ben Cline (R-Va.), Raul Ruiz (D-Calif.), Gary Palmer (R-Ala.), Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.), Debbie Lesko (R-Ariz.), Tom Kean Jr. (R-N.J.), Brian Babin (R-Texas), Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), Morgan Griffith (R-Va.), John Joyce (R-Pa.), Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.), Jake LaTurner (R-Kan.), Laurel Lee (R-Fla.), Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-N.M.), Debbie Lesko (R-Ariz.), Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), Jason Smith (R-Mo.), Michael Turner (R-Ohio) and Tim Walberg (R-Mich.). — SPOTTED at SK Group’s U.S. Senate Korea Caucus reception, hosted at the Invariant townhouse: Sens. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) and Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), Grace Kim, Allen Jamerson, Kelsey Flora, Monica Trauzzi, Nicole Venable, Landon Stropko, Josh Altman, Rey Benitez, Kelly Boyer and Mary-Eileen Manning. — Jeffrey J. Kimbell & Associates hosted a happy hour reception on their Penn Quarter office rooftop Wednesday evening. SPOTTED: Reps. Blake Moore (R-Utah), Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa) and Greg Murphy (R-N.C.), Conor Sheehey, Gable Brady, Natalie Burkhalter, Grace Graham, Taylor Hittle, Seth Waugh, Elliott Guffin, Alex Stepahin and Sarah Gilbert. At the after-party at Hill Country Barbecue, John Ray got the crowd going to Def Leppard’s “Pour Some Sugar on Me.” TRANSITIONS — Dave McCormick’s Pennsylvania Senate campaign has added Matt Gruda as campaign manager, Elizabeth Gregory as comms director and Nathaniel Sizemore as press secretary. Gruda most recently was political director for Sen. Marco Rubio’s (R-Fla.) reelect. Gregory most recently was comms director for Rubio’s reelect. Sizemore most recently was comms director for Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.). … Steve Tilton is now SVP of federal advocacy at PhRMA. He previously was head of U.S. government affairs at Takeda. … … Patrick Sweeney is now VP for political and public affairs at Content Creative Media. He previously founded Targeted Strategies. … Sarah Hummell is launching a new firm, Retail Politics, with tailored training, one-on-one coaching and staffing solutions. She most recently was a VP at the Sexton Group, and is a DCCC alum. … Mark Adams will be VP for external relations and resource development at the International Foundation for Electoral Systems. He previously was director of institutional fundraising at Population Services International. ENGAGED — Austin Maslyn, a cybersecurity engineer at Guidepoint Security, and Savannah Behrmann, Senate correspondent at National Journal and a USA Today and CNN alum, got engaged Sept. 7 during sunrise in Madeira, Portugal. They met in college at George Mason. Pic … Another pic BONUS BIRTHDAY: Elizabeth Markus of House Appropriations Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here. Send Playbookers tips to playbook@politico.com or text us at 202-556-3307. Playbook couldn’t happen without our editor Mike DeBonis, deputy editor Zack Stanton and producer Bethany Irvine.
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