Bob Menendez: Bad Romance Part 2 | 132

Senator Bob Menendez and his wife have just been indicted for wheeling and dealing with the government of Egypt, along with many other crimes. In a bid to save his career, Bob throws his co-conspirators under the bus—including his wife, Nadine. But after decades avoiding consequences, Bob faces a mountain of evidence in court. He’s about to go from lion of the Senate to major liability. Listen to Scamfluencers on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen early and ad-free on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Start your free trial by visiting wondery.com/links/scamfluencers/ now. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Sarah Hagi?

  Audible subscribers can listen to all our episodes of Scamfluencers ad-free right now. Join Audible today by downloading the Audible app.

• 0:14Scaachi Koul?

  Sarah, what do you remember about the first part of our series on Bob and Nadine Menendez? Well, first of all, they are not the Menendez brothers. No, they're somebody else. First things first, these are different people. Yeah. Second of all, Bob Menendez kind of worked his way up from nothing into being a part of the Senate, and him and his freaky wife Nadine are living large on bribes because they're getting paid to help foreign militaries, I guess. Yeah, Sarah, they were just a couple of crazy kids in love. You know how it is. Yeah, you know, they found love in a hopeless place. And what am I supposed to do, fault them for that?

• 0:55Scaachi Koul?

  Well, lucky you, because today I'm going to tell you what becomes of our scammy, star-crossed lovers.

• 1:06Scaachi Koul?

  It's September 25, 2023, and dozens of reporters are crowded into a dimly lit room at Hudson County Community College in Union City, New Jersey. Rain is beating against the windows, and everyone is waiting for Democratic New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez to make his first comment since he was indicted for bribery. Bob was charged two days ago, along with his wife Nadine and several of their associates. This isn't the first time Bob has had to face the press after being indicted. In 2015, he was hit with federal corruption charges. But back then, he walked out to applause. This time, he walks out to stunned, uncomfortable silence. Bob shakes the hands of the few constituents in attendance as he makes his way to the podium. He's here to address the allegations

• 1:51Scaachi Koul?

  in the indictment, which are centered on his shady relationship with the government of Egypt. He defends his record with the country, saying he's always held Egypt accountable for their human rights record. He also makes it clear that he's not here to apologize, and says that he has no plans to resign. He even tries to explain the stockpile of cash and $100,000 in gold bars that the FBI discovered in a raid of his home.

• 2:15Speaker 02

  For 30 years, I have withdrawn thousands of dollars in cash from my personal savings account, which I have kept for emergencies and because of the history of my family facing confiscation in Cuba.

• 2:30Sarah Hagi?

  Okay, so he's blaming generational trauma.

• 2:33Scaachi Koul?

  I mean, listen, it's like right, but it's wrong, you know?

• 2:37Sarah Hagi?

  Listen, I'm Cuban. What do you want me to do?

• 2:41Scaachi Koul?

  It's hard. Well, this explanation obviously rings hollow. But Bob's personal story of overcoming adversity has gotten him this far and helped him evade federal charges once before. He seems ready to double down on his strategy. The only problem is, no one is buying what he's selling anymore. For decades, Bob has been a formidable figure in state and federal politics. Now, he's about to become something new: a punchline.

• 3:13Speaker 03

  Hi, I'm Candace DeLong, former FBI profiler and host of the podcast Killer Psyche. In our latest episode, we go inside the case of Krista Pike, the woman Tennessee tried to execute and failed. Listen to Killer Psyche on Audible or wherever you get your podcasts.

• 3:33Speaker 04

  I'm Lauren Malloy, the host of the podcast My Mom's Murder. For 30 years, I thought my mom died of natural causes. That's what everyone told me. That's what I believed. Until one day, I got a phone call that changed everything. A woman claiming to be my mom's best friend told me my mother was murdered and that no one had ever investigated it. So I did what the detectives wouldn't: pulled the threads, knocked on doors, and confronted the contradictions. And what I found, it's worse than I imagined. Something happened to my mom. Someone killed her. And I won't stop until I find out who.

• 4:15Speaker 04

  The system may have given up on my mom, but I never will. Listen to My Mom's Murder wherever you get your podcasts. Audible subscribers can binge all 10 episodes early and ad-free right now. Join Audible in the Audible app or by subscribing on Apple Podcasts.

• 4:36Scaachi Koul?

  From Wondery, I'm Sachi Cole. And I'm Sarah Hagee. And this is Scamfluencers.

• 4:50Scaachi Koul?

  In our last episode, we followed the political career of Bob Menendez as he rose through the ranks of New Jersey politics to the US Senate. Along the way, he starts doing favors for shady people. And then, when he meets the love of his life, Nadine Arslanian, the two lovebirds become partners in alleged crimes. Now, the feds have caught up with them, and they're at the center of a federal case with international reach. As they scramble to defend themselves against sprawling bribery charges, they're about to learn that the honeymoon phase is definitely over. This is Bob Menendez: Bad Romance, Part Two.

• 5:29Scaachi Koul?

  It's October 5th, 2023, less than two weeks after Nadine Menendez was hit with a federal indictment along with her husband. But amazingly, that is about to become the second most upsetting legal issue she has to face. The New Jersey Attorney General has seized records from law enforcement officials in Bergen County related to a years-old case: a fatal car accident. And the driver in this incident was Nadine. Back in December 2018, Nadine was driving home when she struck 49-year-old Richard Coop with her car. Richard died on the scene. And when the police arrived, Nadine told them that he jumped out of nowhere onto her car's windshield. The dash cam footage from that night was just made public. And the video is not a great look for Nadine.

• 6:13Scaachi Koul?

  In it, she denied any responsibility for the accident. She also refused to hand her phone over to the police. They wanted it so they could see whether she was texting and driving, which is something she's been cited for at least twice in the past. She told the cops that she wouldn't give a statement without her lawyer present, saying, "I just don't want to say anything wrong." Eventually, someone claiming to be a retired cop showed up and stepped in to confirm that Nadine wasn't being charged. He said he was trying to help Nadine because she's friends with his buddy's wife. Richard had alcohol and marijuana in his system, and he'd been jaywalking when Nadine hit him. So the police found her not at fault and released her without testing her for drugs or alcohol. And somehow, the accident didn't make it into the local news.

• 6:57Sarah Hagi?

  You know, she is the wife of a senator, and she killed someone with her car, regardless of whether or not she was found to be at fault, or that she's guilty of something. That is a huge deal, and I would probably want to know that.

• 7:14Scaachi Koul?

  Yeah, I would want to know too. After the indictment comes down against Bob and Nadine, The New York Times and The Record of New Jersey report on the accident for the first time. And the New Jersey AG is looking into whether it was investigated properly. Now that the case is being reopened, Nadine could face new charges, ones that have nothing to do with the bribery scheme. On top of that, it's generating a lot of awful press that Nadine and Bob really can't afford right now. It's October 12, 2023, just a few days after Nadine's car accident case is reopened. Bob is still scrambling to control his public image, and then he's dealt another blow. Federal prosecutors add another charge to his and Nadine's indictment:

• 7:59Scaachi Koul?

  conspiring to act as a foreign agent on Egypt's behalf. Nadine could technically act as a foreign agent if she had registered, but she didn't. Meanwhile, senators are never allowed to act as foreign agents. In response to this new charge, Bob releases another statement saying that he's always been loyal to the United States. The allegation is a stunning escalation of the legal case against Bob, and he's facing mounting pressure to resign. Last time, Bob's party closed ranks around him. But with the presidential election ramping up, Democrats are worried about the optics of having a highly visible, possibly corrupt senator. So they start to turn on him. Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman is the first to speak out. He makes a statement while wearing one of his signature hoodies.

• 8:44Speaker 05

  If he has something to say, it's like, you know, he's resigning. That's the only honorable exit. And he's got to go. He's got to go. I can't imagine, you know, how he could possibly explain any of that kind of a thing.

• 8:57Sarah Hagi?

  Yeah, I mean, it is pretty inexplicable. Like, what else could you do at that point? I don't understand how he could hold on to anything.

• 9:05Scaachi Koul?

  Yeah, and John doesn't stop there either. He's pissed that Bob is even thinking about staying in the Senate. So, in an incredible troll move, he buys a cameo from a past subject of our very show, Sarah: disgraced former Congressman George Santos.

• 9:23Speaker 06

  Hey, Bobby. Uh, look, I don't think I need to tell you, but these people that want to make you get in trouble and want to kick you out and make you run away, you make them put up or shut up. You stand your ground, sir, and don't get bogged down by all the haters out there. Stay strong. Merry Christmas.

• 9:44Sarah Hagi?

  Uh, I mean, if anything is more proof that American politics is like a total joke, it's this entire thing.

• 9:53Scaachi Koul?

  Well, it gets so bad that Bob's former protege, Senator Cory Booker, releases an emotional statement calling for him to resign. Cory was one of the only Democrats to vocally support Bob through his first corruption trial. But not anymore. Here he is talking about his change of heart at an appearance at George Washington University.

• 10:12Speaker 05

  This is personal for me. I've spent a decade working with Bob Menendez. And we've been through hell, from our workplace literally being stormed to seeing the most awful tragedies in our own state, from shootings to natural disasters. So I called on him to resign, which is one of the more gut-wrenching things I've done.

• 10:32Scaachi Koul?

  And just when it seems like things couldn't get any worse, the first co-defendant in Bob's case caves. Jose Uribe, the guy who gifted Nadine her Mercedes. He pleads guilty to bribery and agrees to testify against the other defendants. A few days after that, the prosecution adds yet another charge against the remaining defendants: obstruction of justice. That's for trying to make bribes look like loans. Bob has seemingly been abandoned by his colleagues and rejected by the public. And soon, he's going to lose one of the last pieces of stability left in his life: his relationship with Nadine.

• 11:09Scaachi Koul?

  It's April 2024, five months after Bob learned his former associate is going to testify against him. Bob's been busy trying to preserve his political reputation. Back in January, he even spoke on the Senate floor, declaring his innocence.

• 11:24Speaker 02

  Almost everyone, including my friends in the press who have reported on it, haven't read the indictment. They've only taken the government's sensational narrative of what the accusations are as truth.

• 11:39Sarah Hagi?

  This guy is the government.

• 11:40Scaachi Koul?

  Yes, correct.

• 11:43Sarah Hagi?

  It is really funny to be like, I'm the government, listen to me, but don't listen to the government that's trying to get me.

• 11:51Scaachi Koul?

  Yeah, just his side of the government, only listen to his side. Well, behind the scenes, Bob's lawyers have been trying to get the corruption charges thrown out, and that hasn't worked. So they're ready to try a different tactic. The lawyers are asking for a delay in Nadine's trial. They say she's sick, and although they don't specify her condition, they say that she'll need surgery within the next six weeks. The judge decides to delay Nadine's trial and reconvene in a couple of months, when she's had time to recover. But her co-defendants, including Bob, won't get the same extension. You might think that this is bad news for Bob, but actually, he's been lobbying for his trial to be severed from Nadine's for a while. About a week later, the judge in the case unseals a brief filed by Bob's lawyers.

• 12:36Scaachi Koul?

  And in it, they say that if he testifies, he would violate his spousal privilege by revealing information that would exonerate him, but may incriminate his wife. That's right, Bob is ready to say that this is all Nadine's fault. And the media reacts with absolute glee. Here's Jon Stewart on The Daily Show responding to the headlines.

• 12:56Speaker 06

  Yes, it's those three magic words that every woman is dying to hear. It was her!

• 13:05Speaker 06

  She did it.

• 13:07Scaachi Koul?

  The next month, Bob's trial begins in New York City. He sits stone-faced in the courtroom as the prosecution starts to outline their case. They say that Bob, quote, "put his power up for sale." But in his opening statement, Bob's lawyer says that Bob had no clue what Nadine was asking others to give her. Bob's lawyer also argues that at least some of the gold bars belonged to Nadine. The evidence? Photographs of Nadine's closet in New Jersey, where the gold bars were found during the raid. Bob's lawyer claims that Bob didn't question the gold bars because he figured they were a gift from her family, who had amassed wealth in the Persian rug business.

• 13:45Sarah Hagi?

  Okay, I'm trying to figure out which part of that fits in. Like, listen, they're in the Persian rug business. Everyone knows you get gold, like, it's all in with gold bars, you know? Like, that's just what happens. He's just making shit up at this point.

• 13:59Scaachi Koul?

  Well, the following day, less than 24 hours after betraying Nadine in court, Bob plays the part of a worried husband by revealing her diagnosis to the world. He shares that Nadine has breast cancer, which requires immediate treatment. And throughout all of this, Nadine and her lawyers are quiet. But soon enough, someone else is gonna speak up on her behalf.

• 14:22Scaachi Koul?

  Just when it seems like the media circus around Bob and Nadine can't get any weirder, one of Nadine's friends decides to speak to the New York Post. His name is Pat Dory, and he's been friends with Nadine for years. Though, he tells the Post that Nadine cut off all communication with her closest friends a few months before the indictment. She even changed her number. But Pat's fed up with the evil mastermind narrative around his friend, so he's decided to say something. Pat and a few of Nadine's other friends tell the Post that Nadine is no villain, just a clingy girlfriend. And while she likes to design her clothes and her Mercedes, at the end of the day, she just wanted to pay her mortgage on time. To top it all off, her friends tell the Post that they encouraged Nadine to marry Bob

• 15:04Scaachi Koul?

  because, get this, she had a head injury and needed the health insurance.

• 15:10Sarah Hagi?

  These friends are useless. This makes her look worse.

• 15:14Sarah Hagi?

  They couldn't even come up with something of her being manipulated into marriage.

• 15:19Scaachi Koul?

  Listen, needing health care is a real problem in this country, Sarah. You don't understand.

• 15:23Sarah Hagi?

  It is, but I don't know. It's a stretch.

• 15:26Scaachi Koul?

  Well, now, Pat alleges that Nadine doesn't have money to pay for her lawyers, and speculates that, despite his betrayal, she's never gonna leave Bob. What started as an epic romance has turned into a one-sided war of the roses. While the court of public opinion has been brutal, the actual courtroom is about to get downright vicious.

• 15:53Sarah Hagi?

  Ghosts aren't real. At least, that's what journalist Tristan Redmond always believed. Sure, odd things happen in his childhood bedroom, but ultimately, he shrugged them off. Until he discovered that he wasn't alone, that everyone who lived there after him also had bizarre experiences they couldn't explain. And it gets even weirder. It just so happens that his wife's great-grandmother was murdered in the house next door. Is this ghost somehow connected to her murder? He decides to go where no son-in-law should, digging up a cold case and asking questions that nobody wants answered. Like, could his wife's great-grandfather have gotten away with the perfect crime? This is a podcast about family secrets, overwhelming coincidence, and the things that come back to haunt us.

• 16:38Sarah Hagi?

  For the best bingeable series like Ghost Story, listen to the Audible True Crime Podcast wherever you get your podcasts. Audible subscribers can get all episodes early and ad-free right now. Join Audible in the Audible app or by subscribing on Apple Podcasts.

• 16:53Scaachi Koul?

  I'm Gemma Whelan, and in the new season of The Spy Who, we tell the story of the original femme fatale, the spy who was Mata Hari, a famous dancer turned World War I secret agent.

• 17:04Speaker 03

  Accused of seducing allied officers to uncover their plans. But was she a temptress or a scapegoat for French failures? Follow The Spy Who now, wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also listen to the full season of The Spy Who Was Mata Hari, early and at free on Audible.

• 17:30Scaachi Koul?

  It's June 2024, a few weeks into Bob's trial. Jose Uribe is at the Southern District Federal Courthouse in Lower Manhattan, and he's at the center of a media frenzy. He's wearing a navy suit with a crisp white shirt, and he's trying to keep his face free of emotion. He's flipped on his former friends, and he's now the prosecution's star witness. Jose pleaded guilty to the bribery charges back in March, and he's also pleaded guilty to previous tax evasion. So now, he's facing a lot of jail time, even with a deal. Bob's trial has been a bit of a circus. Donald Trump is in court across the street, facing campaign finance charges. And that hasn't been the only distraction. Bob's trial was recently delayed by a week

• 18:13Scaachi Koul?

  because all of the jurors got stuck in an elevator. Of course, this was right after the judge literally said, "Don't all get into one elevator."

• 18:22Sarah Hagi?

  Does anything normal happen with this guy? Any, any aspect of his life? Is there one normal thing that happens?

• 18:30Scaachi Koul?

  No, it's all very stupid. Well, Jose has to confront Bob in court today, but he won't see Nadine. She's been excused from appearing in court because of chronic pain related to her recent mastectomy. Jose tells the jury about his friend Wael. That's the guy that Bob helped get a halal monopoly. Jose says that Wael told him that if he was willing to give up a quarter of a million dollars, Bob would help him avoid a potential federal investigation. And he tells the story of what happened when he went to Bob's house to formally ask for help. Do you remember that? It's the meeting in 2019 where Bob and Jose talked in the backyard, and Nadine waited patiently inside until Bob summoned her with a bell.

• 19:09Sarah Hagi?

  Yeah, I do remember that, and I haven't stopped thinking about it.

• 19:14Scaachi Koul?

  Well, the story isn't just alarming. It also undermines the defense's argument that actually, everything was Nadine's fault. She clearly wasn't operating behind her husband's back. In some cases, she wasn't even in the same room when the deal was being made. And it's hard to believe that Bob was being controlled by a woman he could summon with a bell. A couple of days later, the defense gets a chance to cross-examine Jose and chip away at his credibility. They try to use Jose's priors to make him seem like a sophisticated liar. But he maintains his composure on the stand, and his testimony blows Bob's argument to smithereens. Unfortunately for Bob, Jose's testimony is just the first domino to fall. Some of Bob's closest colleagues are about to tell the world that Bob hasn't

• 19:57Scaachi Koul?

  just been a shady politician, he's also been a bad boss.

• 20:04Scaachi Koul?

  It's about two weeks after Jose's testimony, and another major witness is ready to testify for the prosecution. More than 40 years after Bob testified against William Musto, now he's the one being exposed by a former staffer. Her name is Sarah Arkin. She's 40 years old, and with her long brown hair and glasses, she looks like a policy nerd, which she is. Right now, she works for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, but before that, she worked for Bob as a foreign policy advisor. Sarah takes the stand and tells the jury that, for the past few years, he's been acting extremely weird. Sarah says that back in March 2019, she drafted a letter criticizing the president of Egypt and the country's

• 20:47Scaachi Koul?

  human rights record. And while Bob used to be comfortable criticizing Egypt, this time, he told her to back off a little bit. He told her he wanted to tone down public criticism and engage in more private communication. By the way, this happened less than a month before the Egyptian government awarded Bob's friend Waal a monopoly halal contract. What a coincidence! She also tells the jury that, in September 2021, she was helping Bob plan an official trip to Egypt and Qatar when she received a strange request. Through a colleague, Bob asked her to coordinate trip details with someone named Abdel Majid, a name that she didn't recognize. Over text, the colleague told her that, quote, "All of this Egypt

• 21:30Scaachi Koul?

  stuff is very weird. I've never seen anything like it." After a series of phone calls to the Egyptian embassy, Sarah worked out that Abdel Majid was actually a code name for an Egyptian intelligence officer who had become friends with Nadine. Actually, this intelligence officer and Nadine were kind of best friends. They were texting all the time about DC hair salons, or whether she could arrange for Bob to ride a camel while in Egypt. Oh, and how to talk about Egypt's potential involvement in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

• 22:02Sarah Hagi?

  I am having a hard time understanding Nadine's personality and like what she's like and what she's trying to do here because she doesn't seem like someone who would just be out here texting a government agent from a foreign government. I just don't understand this at all. Like, how is this happening? And, you know, I kind of want to queen out with Nadine now.

• 22:26Scaachi Koul?

  Well, you know, I think you and Nadine have a lot in common, and I think you will really get along. But when the defense attorney presses her, Sarah admits that Bob did continue to voice some of his old concerns about Egyptian human rights abuses. But she tells the jury that, in her opinion, something changed after Bob started meeting with the Egyptian officials. Sarah's testimony is yet another nail in Bob's coffin. But his defense team has one more card left to play: the story of a dramatic breakup.

• 22:57Scaachi Koul?

  On June 28, 2024, after seven weeks of testimony, 30 witnesses, and one elevator rescue, the prosecution rests its case. But Judge Sidney Stein's job isn't over. Sidney is in his late 70s with steely gray hair and black-rimmed glasses. And a few days later, Sidney is reading a new filing from the defense. It lays out a legal argument straight out of friends. They say that, actually, when the halal monopoly was being negotiated, Bob and Nadine were on a break. The defense has included a bunch of texts from this time. They claim that the texts show that Bob was only in communication with Nadine because he was worried her ex was mistreating her. Sarah, can you read one of Bob's summarized texts to Nadine?

• 23:40Sarah Hagi?

  Yeah, this is my favorite thing to do. "I worry about your safety and well-being. I'm also concerned that he will manipulate you into conversations with him. My disappointment, however, does not change my love for you. You are the love of my life, and hopefully we can live in peace and happiness the rest of our lives." This is getting so in the weeds of this weird relationship and the weird things they did that it feels further and further away from the actual case at hand.

• 24:09Scaachi Koul?

  Yeah. Well, for what it's worth, Doug told the New York Times that claims he hurt Nadine were ridiculous and that everything she ever made up about me was fake. Sidney is not amused. He bars the introduction of the text, telling the court, quote, "This is not going to be days of our lives or some soap opera." Bob's lawyers are grasping at straws, but they have two more witnesses who they hope will make their case and seal Nadine's fate.

• 24:37Scaachi Koul?

  On July 1st, 2024, Bob sits in court as his sister, Caridad Gonzalez, takes the stand. She's a petite woman in her 80s, though she looks a decade younger with her dark, dyed hair. She wears a smart, knee-length black dress and a cropped white jacket as she takes her seat in the Manhattan courtroom. She's here to back up Bob's claim that he had hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of cash in his home because he's Cuban. Caridad explains that she was eight when their family fled Cuba and that their father stored money in a grandfather clock in their home in Havana. She says, quote, "It's a Cuban thing." And Caridad confirms that her parents continued hoarding cash after coming to the US.

• 25:19Sarah Hagi?

  I'm sure that's all true. Like, my family has some of the same stuff from, you know, being refugees and immigrants and whatever. But the point is, this man is a government official. Like, he shouldn't be doing stuff like that. He should know better, even if it is true.

• 25:35Scaachi Koul?

  Yeah. Well, Caridad has stayed close with Bob throughout the years, even working as his legal secretary at one point in the 1980s. She recalls how Bob once had her fetch $500 from a cash box he kept in his apartment. And Caridad's not the only sister Bob has dragged into the circus. The next witness is Nadine's little sister, Katia. She testifies that in the fall of 2018, Nadine told her that Bob broke up with her because he found out about her ex-boyfriend, Doug. Nadine asked Katia to reach out to Bob and convince him to get back together with her. The defense wants Katia's testimony to prove that Bob and Nadine weren't together at the end of 2018, during the crucial planning stages of Wael's halal monopoly.

• 26:17Scaachi Koul?

  After some final testimony from a forensic accountant about Bob's cash withdrawals, the defense rests, bringing an end to a long, confusing trial. Now that it's over, Bob's future hangs in the balance. But by the time the jury reaches a verdict, the political landscape will be turned on its head.

• 26:41Scaachi Koul?

  There are books that change how you see the world, and there are books that change how you see yourself. In a new podcast series, A Great Book with Barack Obama, President Obama sits down with a series of surprising and sharp guests to explore six books that have shaped his life and perspective on the world. From Song of Solomon and The Fire Next Time, to All the Pretty Horses and Gilead. The president is joined by guests like Tom Hanks and Ta-Nehisi Coates to reflect on how these timeless stories shaped his thinking

• 27:15Speaker 06

  on everything from fatherhood to leadership, and discover together what they tell us about the world we live in and the world we want to create. Audible subscribers can listen to all episodes of A Great Book with Barack Obama ad-free right now, plus access each audiobook discussed in the series. Download the Audible app today.

• 27:41Speaker 06

  You stepped out for your morning jog. Except it's not your usual morning jog. You started listening to an epic sci-fi book on Audible. Thirty chapters later, you've accidentally run a half marathon. You've lost track of how far you've run, somewhere just past the city limits. You can't stop. You have to find out what happens next. Then it's over. The universe seems bigger. You feel different. You feel like you have no idea where you are. Audible. Stories that speak to you.

• 28:20Scaachi Koul?

  It's July 16th, 2024. The jury has been deliberating Bob's case for just three days, but they're already back with a verdict. They find Bob guilty on all 16 counts, including bribery, extortion, obstruction of justice, and several counts of conspiracy. Throughout his career, Bob has been able to escape many accusations of corruption, but this time, there's no denying it. He's a crook. The prosecutor in the case releases a statement saying that, because Senator Menendez has now been found guilty, his years of selling his office to the highest bidder have finally come to an end. Bob immediately gives a press conference outside the courtroom because even when he's down, Bob loves a press conference.

• 29:03Speaker 02

  Obviously, I'm deeply, deeply disappointed by the jury's decision. I have every faith that the law and the facts did not sustain that decision and that we will be successful upon appeal.

• 29:17Scaachi Koul?

  With this verdict, Bob has once again made history. He's the first sitting senator to be convicted of acting as a foreign agent. And normally, this would be huge news, but there's a lot going on around this time. While Bob's trial was happening, Joe Biden had that catastrophic presidential debate with Donald Trump. That led to an unprecedented outcry for him to drop out of the race, which was all over the headlines. And then, the day after the jury started deliberating, Trump was shot in an assassination attempt at a rally. I mean, Sarah, can you remember all of this shit happening, like, all at the same time? I do remember where he was when Trump got shot and that whole day, but I do think that being such big news totally overshadowed any of this

• 30:01Scaachi Koul?

  because I do not remember anything to do with Bob. Well, you know what else is still super chaotic? New Jersey politics, which haven't changed one bit. Representative Andy Kim officially announced that he would run for Bob's seat the day after the indictment. And that pissed off Governor Philip Murphy because he wanted to support another candidate for Senate: his wife. She later dropped out because people were like, "Come on, be serious." Throughout the trial, the investigation, and all of the calls for Bob's resignation, Bob has been steadfast on one thing: that he will stay on the Senate floor no matter how many people call for his resignation. And amazingly, this verdict does not mean that Bob is kicked out of the Senate. He's still able to serve until his term is up at the end of the year.

• 30:46Scaachi Koul?

  And it's no wonder that Bob thinks he might be able to get out of this one. With everything going on, people barely have the bandwidth to focus on his fraud. He's determined to appeal his case and hold on to power. But Bob's Teflon Act might be about to come to a close. Immediately after the verdict, Senator Chuck Schumer, the Democratic Majority Leader, says that Bob needs to go. And less than a week later, the Senate Ethics Committee votes unanimously to a formal review of Bob's conduct. That's the process that would lay the groundwork to force him out. That hasn't happened to a senator in more than 100 years. Bob must be done making history, because one day later, he resigns. Do you want to read a part of his statement?

• 31:30Sarah Hagi?

  Yeah. It says, "I will be resigning from my office as the United States Senator from New Jersey. While I fully intend to appeal the jury's verdict, all the way and including to the Supreme Court, I do not want the Senate to be involved in a lengthy process that will detract from its important work."

• 31:47Scaachi Koul?

  It's such a bullshit politician-speak way of being like, "I got got." He doesn't care about the Senate's work. Well, in another world, this would be the top headline in every national newspaper. But like we mentioned, in 2024, it's not even the biggest news on the politician calls it quits beat. Instead, it's buried under headlines about President Joe Biden dropping out of the 2024 presidential race, which he did just two days before Bob's announcement. Bob didn't completely skate on by. He's actually facing a really long prison sentence. As of this recording, his sentencing hearing is set for January 2025. Around the time Bob was found guilty, Nadine's trial was postponed indefinitely because

• 32:31Scaachi Koul?

  she is still very sick. As of this recording, she has not spoken out publicly. After Bob resigned, New Jersey's governor appointed his replacement. Not his wife, but his former chief of staff, George Helmy, to fill the vacancy. Which is how Bob's career in the Senate began, with an appointment. It looks like Andy Kim is likely going to win the race for the Senate seat, and he'll immediately step into the role. And even though Bob's political career appears to be over for the foreseeable future and Nadine is out of the spotlight, this is not the last time we'll hear from the Menendezes. Bob's son, Robert Menendez Jr., was elected to Congress in 2022, and his daughter, Alicia, is an anchor for MSNBC.

• 33:12Scaachi Koul?

  So regardless of what happens in his appeal, at least one part of Bob's political legacy seems to be intact. Well, Sarah, of all of the scammy politicians we've covered, and there have been a few, where do you think Bob ranks?

• 33:26Sarah Hagi?

  It's hard to say. I think he's kind of in the middle for me, only because I see what he did as functioning within the framework of how a lot of politicians pass laws or the kind of relationships they have. But he just did it in a way that was so blatantly crazy that he became a full-on scammer. Like, he just went way too far.

• 33:50Scaachi Koul?

  I feel like his scam is so big and so obvious and also kind of boring. It's sort of like what I assume politicians are doing, generally speaking. Like, it's no George Santos. That was beyond the realm of my comprehension, but this is like, oh yeah, no shit, of course this is happening.

• 34:07Sarah Hagi?

  Yeah, and I do think for a huge part of his scam, he probably didn't see what he was doing as like full-on scamming. The way that he was like, well, this is kind of what politicians do. We're all doing this, right? Meanwhile, everyone's like, no, we, we're not doing it like that.

• 34:21Scaachi Koul?

  I was paying attention to Bob despite everything that was happening, and I am a little Surprised that he was found guilty. The whole time we've been talking about this case, the whole time I've been reading about it, I kept being like, what are they gonna get him for? It's just a couple of gold bars. What's the big deal? That's child's play in terms of political corruption. But they got him. I was pretty surprised as well. And, you know, when we do a lot of these kind of government scams, when it's an elected official, it is always funny to see people try to distance themselves completely from the guilty person. You know, like, I'm sure there was a lot going on with him and other people. And they're just kind of like, man, he's a bad guy. Can't believe Bob did that. It's bad. Do you think we're gonna hear from Bob again?

• 35:06Scaachi Koul?

  Like, it feels like disgraced politicians never stay away for very long. So what do you think will be his, I guess, his fourth act? I mean, I could see a lot of things happening. I really think the sky's the limit for someone like Bob. He can become a consultant. He can become a talking head. I don't know. I think that there's a space for him as a disgraced politician who wasn't outwardly like as crazy as someone like George Santos. I think if my husband threw me under the bus that hard in a corruption case while I had breast cancer, I would eat him and his family. This is another episode that is a testament for why you should not get married.

• 35:49Scaachi Koul?

  Yeah, I really found that to be quite terrible, actually. Whatever Nadine did, she is legitimately very sick. You'd think there'd be like some sort of care from her husband. But, you know, he is a politician. He's thinking about himself at the end of the day. Like, he's trying to not get the most time. And I'm sure he can find a million ways to justify it, the same way he's justified everything he's done. I am just kind of like, how does someone like Nadine find herself at the center of something like this? You know? I just keep thinking about how she was too crazy to be friends with the Real Housewives of New Jersey. Yeah, imagine Kim D. being like, this woman's too much. And then she turns out to be dating a senator. Like, that's actually exactly right. Yes.

• 36:32Scaachi Koul?

  And I, I am just still kind of surprised by how badly her friends defended her. Do you think they understood what they were doing? I don't think so. I think that was the greatest thing they could come up with together. How do you think Cuban Americans feel about Bob's argument that they had all those gold bars because they were Cuban? I mean, again, I see it in some way. Like, I do get that people do that. It's just funny to me, he used that as an excuse in like a legal matter, not as like, oh, this quirky thing I do because of my family's history.

• 37:11Scaachi Koul?

  Bob's story is like, a single kernel of truth buried in mountains of fat, and garbage, and trash, and lies. Like, yeah, maybe that's something that's true for some families, but that's not why you, in particular, were hoarding gold bars in your wife's closet. Yeah, and also blaming the gold bars on, you know, the Persian rug trade is so insane. It's like, no one really has gold bars just laying around unless they're like, some sort of conspiracy theorist, or... You're up to no good. You got gold like that, you're up to no good. Bob was up to no good, Sarah. I think if I've learned anything, it's that you can somehow kind of get away with things

• 37:55Scaachi Koul?

  if you get in trouble around the same time that the president drops out of the election, and they try to kill the other president. And also, there's still an election happening, and one of the presidents is also being indicted. Yeah, he is so lucky that the world is a lot crazier than what he's been doing. Like, five years ago, this would have had so much mileage. But now, it's just kind of like, too much is going on. There's too much going on.

• 38:27Scaachi Koul?

  Follow Scamfluencers on the Audible app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to all episodes of Scamfluencers ad-free by joining Audible.

• 38:37Scaachi Koul?

  This is Bob Menendez: Bad Romance Part Two. I'm Sachi Cole.

• 38:41Sarah Hagi?

  And I'm Sarah Haggie. If you have a tip for us on a story that you think we should cover, please email us at [email protected]. We use many sources in our research. A few that were particularly helpful were, "It's a Cuban Thing: Menendez's Sisters Says Their Parents Also Hid Cash", by Tracy Tully and Benjamin Weiser for The New York Times; "The Case of the Developer: The Halal Exporter, U.S."

• 39:03Scaachi Koul?

  Senator Bob Menendez and His Wife by Dan Adler for Vanity Fair, and Nadine and Bob Menendez's flashy, allegedly corrupt romance by Nina Burley for New York Magazine. Our associate producer, Charlotte Miller, wrote this episode. Additional writing by us, Sachi Cole and Sarah Haggy. Olivia Bryley and Eric Thurm are our story editors. Fact checking by Sarah Baum. Sound design by James Morgan. Additional audio assistance provided by Augustine Lim. Our music supervisor is Scoff Velazquez for Freeze on Sync. Our managing producers are Matt Gant and Desi Blalock. Our senior managing producer is Nick Ryan. Janine Cornolo and Stephanie Jens are our development producers. Our other associate producer is Lexi Peary. Our producers are John Reed, Yasmin Ward, and Kate Young. Our senior producers are Sarah Enney and Ginny Bloom.

• 39:48Scaachi Koul?

  Our executive producers are Jenny Lauer Beckman, Marshall Louis, and Aaron O'Flaherty. For Wondery.

• 40:02Scaachi Koul?

  Hi, I'm Kenya Barris. And I'm Malcolm Gladwell. We're back for season two of our Audible original podcast, The Unusual Suspects. We'll sit down with extraordinary guests from the worlds of art, film, literature, comedy, and wellness to hear from their unexpected stories of success. And who do we have this season? Well, we'll talk with Grammy-winning artist Anderson Paak, athlete Rich Roll, portrait artist Amy Sherald, Oscar-winning director Ron Howard, legendary writer David Sedaris, and many more. These conversations are more intimate than last season, wouldn't you say? I would. Listen to season one of The Unusual Suspects wherever you get your podcasts, and sign up for a free trial Audible to listen to season two in the Audible app or by subscribing to Apple Podcasts.