New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez indicted on corruption charges

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Bob Menendez, the son of Cuban immigrants who rose to become one of the highest-ranking Hispanic members of Congress, was charged Wednesday with accepting nearly $1 million worth of gifts and campaign contributions from a longtime friend in exchange for a stream of political favors.

Menendez predicted he would be "vindicated" and said "this is not how my career is going to end" in a defiant statement in front of reporters and cheering supporters Wednesday evening.

"I am not going anywhere. I'm angry and ready to fight because today contradicts my public service and my entire life," he said.

A federal grand jury indictment accuses the New Jersey Democrat of using the power of his Senate seat to benefit Dr. Salomon Melgen, a wealthy Florida eye doctor who prosecutors say provided the senator with luxury vacations, airline travel, golf trips and tens of thousands of dollars in contributions to a legal-defense fund.

The indictment from a federal grand jury in Newark contains 14 counts -- including bribery, conspiracy and false statements -- against Menendez and also charges Melgen, a political donor to Menendez and other Democrats.

Menendez is scheduled to appear in federal court in Newark, New Jersey, today.

The criminal charges cloud the political future of the top Democrat -- and former chairman -- of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who has played a leading role on Capitol Hill on matters involving Iran's nuclear program and U.S. efforts to improve ties with Cuba. Two people familiar with Menendez's situation who were not authorized to discuss the senator's plans publicly said Menendez would voluntarily and temporarily step aside from his role as top Democrat on the committee.

Melgen's attorney did not return a call seeking comment Wednesday.

The indictment will almost certainly lead to a drawn-out legal fight between Menendez and a team of Justice Department corruption prosecutors who have spent at least two years investigating his ties to Melgen. It will require prosecutors to prove a close and longtime friendship between the men was used for criminal purposes and is likely to revive legal debate about the constitutional protections afforded to members of Congress for acts they take while in office.

The indictment marks the latest development in a federal investigation that came into public view when federal authorities raided Melgen's medical offices in 2013.

Menendez acknowledged around that time that he had taken several round-trip flights to the Dominican Republic on Melgen's luxury jet that, initially, were not properly reimbursed. But the 68-page document spells out additional gifts, such as a Paris hotel stay and access to a Dominican resort, that were not reported on financial disclosure forms.

In exchange for those and other gifts, prosecutors allege, Menendez sought to smooth approval of the visa application process for several of Melgen's foreign girlfriends, sought to protect a lucrative contract Melgen held to provide cargo screening services to the Dominican Republic and intervened in a Medicare billing dispute on the doctor's behalf worth millions of dollars.

In 2013, in an email exchange one day after Melgen and Menendez had golfed together in Florida, Menendez told his chief counsel to contact U.S. Customs and Border Protection to ask the agency to stop donating shipping container monitoring and surveillance equipment to the Dominican Republic, according to the indictment. Melgen had a contract to provide exclusive cargo screening in Dominican ports, and the CBP plan would have hurt his financial interests, prosecutors say.

Menendez has acknowledged taking actions that could benefit Melgen, among them contacting U.S. health agencies to ask about billing practices and policies. But the lawmaker has said he did nothing wrong and that the interactions he had with the doctor were reflections of a close friendship dating two decades.

"We celebrated holidays together," he told reporters last month amid news reports of a looming indictment. "We have been there for family weddings and sad times like funerals and have given each other birthday, holiday and wedding presents, just as friends do."

Melgen himself came under renewed scrutiny when government data last year showed he had received more in Medicare reimbursements in 2012 than any other doctor in the country.

According to the Senate Historical Office, Menendez is the 12th senator to be indicted and the first since the late Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, was indicted in 2008 on charges of not reporting hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of home renovations. Stevens was convicted but the charges were later dismissed.

Menendez is also the second New Jersey senator to be indicted. Harrison Williams Jr., a Democrat, was indicted in 1980 on corruption charges and convicted of bribery and other counts the following year. Williams resigned before the Senate could vote on whether to expel him.

Menendez, 61, joined the Senate in 2006 after serving more than a decade in the House of Representatives. A lawyer and former mayor of Union City, New Jersey, Menendez also served in the New Jersey General Assembly and state Senate.