The Department of Justice is planning to bring corruption charges against New Jersey Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez after he allegedly used his Senate office to push the business interests of a Democratic donor and friend in exchange for gifts, CNN reported.
Attorney General Eric holder has reportedly signed off on prosecutors' request to move forward with the indictment, and an announcement is expected to come within weeks, as prosecutors are under pressure due to a statute of limitations, according to CNN.
Menendez, one of the highest ranking Hispanic members of Congress and former chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, allegedly used his office to advocate for the interests of close friend and Florida ophthalmologist Salomon Melgen, who has generously donated to the senator and committees he is associated with.
Of particular interest to prosecutors, according to CNN, are plane trips that Menendez took in 2010 as a guest of Melgen. The senator paid Melgen back $58,000 for the trips only after he discovered he was being investigated, calling his failure to properly disclose the trips an "oversight."
Investigators are also supposedly looking into whether Menendez broke the law when he used his position to protect Melgen's business interests in the Dominican Republic. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency was considering donating port screening equipment to the Dominican Republic, which would have impacted Melgen's business, as his company had a contract to provide port screening services in the country.
The indictment hearkens back to a similar charge brought against former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell in January. McDonnell was sentenced to two years in federal prison for public corruption after it was discovered that he had received more than $165,000 in loans and high-end gifts in exchange for access to the power of the governor's office.
