U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez’s bribery and corruption case took another dramatic turn as prosecutors from the Southern District of New York announced additional charges against New Jersey’s senior senator and his wife, Nadine.

The charges returned Tuesday by a grand jury include obstruction of justice related to the investigation of the alleged scheme, which came to light last fall when prosecutors first announced an indictment. Since then, two additional superseding indictments preceded March 5’s superseding charges. That’s resulted in a now-18-count indictment. The scheme allegedly includes Democratic representative Menendez, who faces 16 counts himself; his wife; and two other codefendants, businessmen Wael Hana and Fred Daibes.

The latest update comes days after one codefendant, Jose Uribe, a former New Jersey insurance broker, pleaded guilty to bribery charges and agreed to cooperate in the case. Uribe admitted in court to trying to bribe the couple with a Mercedes-Benz to help squash an insurance fraud investigation.

The four remaining defendants have maintained their innocence, pleading not guilty to all previous charges.

Menendez has remained defiant in his vow to fight the charges and remain in office, despite calls for his resignation.

Trial on track

Prosecutors allege that once the Menendezes were aware of a federal investigation, they tried to disguise the Mercedes payments as a loan. Then, they allegedly misrepresented the scenario to the senator’s own attorneys, which led his own counsel to make false and misleading statements to SDNY.

The new charges come amid an uptick in activity as the case moves toward a May 6 trial date.

In a Tuesday letter to Judge Sidney Stein, U.S. Attorney for SDNY Damian Williams noted that the superseding indictment includes the same offenses, but charges corresponding substantive offenses and includes new charges of conspiracy to obstruct justice and obstruction of justice.

“The filing of the superseding indictment will not necessitate the production of any additional discovery and, in the government’s view, does not affect the scheduled May 6, 2024, trial date,” Williams wrote.

Earlier this week, Stein shot down an attempt by Menendez to suppress evidence, such as the gold bars and cash recovered from searches of his home. Those revelations drew national attention when the first indictment was unsealed. Menendez had argued those searches were unconstitutional.

Neither lawyers for the Menendez’s nor did the senator’s office immediately respond to a request for comment.

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