On May 21, 2019, two FBI surveillance teams were dispatched to the Morton’s steakhouse, a few blocks from the White House.
They weren’t there looking for Senator Bob Menendez, but then he showed up.
This is evident from testimony Tuesday from an FBI investigator who was called as a witness in the corruption trial against the New Jersey Democrat.
That evening at the steakhouse, two FBI investigators, posing as husband and wife, were eavesdropping on a trio of Egyptian men at a table, including one who was the subject of their investigation.
Then Menendez and his current wife, Nadine, joined the men. And the senator — who is notorious for going to Morton for much of the time he’s in D.C. and billing his political action committee for meals — ended up in the middle of the steakhouse.
Among his dinner companions that evening were Ahmed Helmy, the head of Egypt’s intelligence service; Egyptian diplomat Nader Moussa; and Wael “Will” Hana, an Egyptian-American businessman based in New Jersey who was recently granted a lucrative monopoly by the Egyptian government to oversee U.S. halal meat exports to the country.
It’s unclear which investigators were there to watch. But two of the investigators stated that their target was someone from New York who arrived at the steakhouse in a car with a diplomatic Washington DC license plate. The FBI couple inside was equipped with a cover story and a hidden video camera that captured silent footage. Another investigator sat in a van with cameras outside the steakhouse. Another, who did not testify Tuesday, had posed as an Uber driver.
Testimony or other court documents do not indicate whether Menendez was even on the FBI’s radar before the dinner.
But now a snippet of conversation during dinner has become a key piece of evidence for prosecutors against him and his co-defendant Hana. Federal prosecutors allege that Menendez and his wife took bribes from Hana to help Egypt obtain U.S. military aid and weapons. Nadine Menendez, who was diagnosed with breast cancer, is expected to be tried separately as soon as her health allows.
One of the FBI investigators, Terrie Williams-Thompson, who posed as the woman and at one point stood up to follow Nadine Menendez into the bathroom, testified that the men did most of the conversation during dinner. Silent video footage shows Menendez pouring wine and Helmy smoking at the table, which is on Morton’s patio, where smoking is allowed.
Towards the end of the meal, the five table companions grew louder, and then Williams-Thompson said she spoke over Nadine Menendez, “What else can the love of my life do for you?”
Williams-Thompson said it was not clear to whom the comment was directed, but prosecutors point to it as a key piece of evidence in their corruption charges.
Defense attorneys portrayed the meeting as an innocent gathering at Menendez’s usual spot — and not a shady gathering of criminal co-conspirators. Adam Fee, Menendez’s attorney, told the judge overseeing the case that when the senator is in D.C., he probably eats at the same table at that same restaurant “250 nights a year.”
Fee told the judge, “You can find Senator Menendez having the same dinner with diplomats and other government officials at Morton’s in Washington, DC, almost every night of the work week.”
