Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., is paying tens of thousands in legal fees and is setting up a legal defense fund in connection with a federal criminal probe, according to campaign finance records and a spokeswoman for Menendez.
The new filings reveal payments totaling roughly $200,000 to two law firms and a document search company since the beginning of the year.
A spokeswoman declined to provide details about the payments but said Menendez would be establishing a defense fund.
“Senator Menendez is confident that this official inquiry will be successfully closed, but as it is still unresolved he will be opening a separate legal defense fund so as not to drain any further campaign funds,” the spokeswoman said in a statement.
Sources have said Menendez is under investigation in connection with a Weehawken, New Jersey, meat company that won an exclusive contract with the government of Egypt to certify halal exports worldwide. Several officials have said owners of the company, IS EG Halal, have given expensive gifts to Menendez’s wife in the past.
NBC News previously reported that dozens of federal grand jury subpoenas were issued in connection with the investigation, led by the U.S. attorney’s office for Southern New York.
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