Robert Menendez, a Democratic senator from New Jersey and chairman of the House Foreign Relations Committee, is under criminal investigation by the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, two sources familiar with the matter told NBC News. matter and a spokesman for the senator.
Michael Soliman, an adviser to Menéndez, said in a statement that the senator "is aware of an investigation that was reported on Wednesday, but does not know the scope of it."
"As always, if there is any official investigation, the senator is available to provide any assistance requested," added the adviser.
The news was advanced by the informative website Semafor.
The Prosecutor's Office has declined to comment for now.
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Menéndez and a Florida ophthalmologist, Salomon Melgen, were indicted in 2015 in another federal investigation for an alleged plot in which the doctor provided flights on a private plane and luxurious vacations to the senator in exchange for help winning government contracts and other favors. public.
Menendez's attorneys argued that the two men were simply good friends and the investigation ended in a mistrial in 2017 because the jury did not reach a verdict.
Melgen was convicted in 2017 of Medicare fraud but later obtained a pardon from then-President Donald Trump in 2021.
Two people familiar with the investigation told Semafor that the outlines of the new case are similar to the previous one courted in 2017, but it involves a different group of people.
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Menéndez started young in politics.
At age 20 he won a seat on the school board.
He was later elected mayor of Union City, then to the state Assembly and Senate, and later to the House of Representatives, where he spent more than a decade.
In 2006 he was named a senator after Jon Corzine resigned to become governor.
He was elected to a full term that same year, and was re-elected in 2012 and 2018.