Senator Robert Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat who was accused last month of taking bribes in exchange for granting lucrative political favors, faces a new charge, of acting as a foreign agent, while he served as a chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Federal prosecutors on Thursday filed the fresh charge against Mr. Menendez; his wife, Nadine Menendez; and a third defendant, Wael Hana, accusing them of failing to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. Prosecutors have asked a judge to seize the Menendezes’ residence in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., as well as a Mercedes-Benz convertible the government says was given to them as a bribe.
Mr. Menendez, Nadine Menendez, 56, Mr. Hana and two other businessmen were accused last month in what prosecutors then described as a scheme to use the senator’s influence to increase U.S. aid and military sales to Egypt in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars, bars of gold bullion and the Mercedes-Benz.
Mr. Menendez, 69, has called the claims against him false and said he will be cleared of any wrongdoing. He has also rejected pressure from many fellow Democrats who are urging him to resign from the Senate.
