Bob Menendez Is Blowing Campaign Gold on Lawyers—and Pricey Steaks

Fighting to keep himself out of prison has cost Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) a lot—but not his appetite, campaign finance records show.

The embattled Democrat, now on trial for allegations he accepted gold bars and envelopes of cash from New Jersey businessmen in exchange for favors for them and their patrons in Egypt and Qatar, spent $2 million on legal fees in April, the latest filings show. This figure represents more than a third of his entire warchest accrued over 18 years in the U.S. Senate, and comes on top of $1 million the campaign gave the firm in November—all before the actual courtroom action started earlier this month.

But these swelling expenses, and the anemic $95,538.86 the campaign has raised so far this year, hasn’t kept the senator from dining on his donors’ dime: his New Millennium Political Action Committee has picked up eight checks totalling $7,012.51 this year at Morton’s Steakhouse in D.C., a favorite Menendez hangout where the filet mignon starts at $56 and the tomahawks top out at $139.

Read more at The Daily Beast.