It was an elegant scheme, but soon cracks began to appear. The FBI watches Menendez have a dinner with Egyptian spies, they find gold bars in a closet, and a foreign influence scheme unfolds. Menendez faces the trial of his life, and we ask: why would a man at the top of the political world risk everything? And is our political system partly to blame? Can a senator who is not wealthy succeed in a political system that is infused with gifts, luxury trips and money?
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The Lover
As Menendez walks free from his first corruption trial, he meets a new love—Nadine Arslanian. Nadine was a stay at home mom in Englewood cliffs, New Jersey. She drove her kids to a private French school in Manhattan – and had been spotted with cast members of The Real Housewives of New Jersey. Within weeks of meeting the Senator, she’s arranging off-the-books meetings with Egyptian generals. What started as a rebound romance turns into the centerpiece of an international bribery case.
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The Fighter
We trace Bob Menendez’s rise from a tough New Jersey neighborhood to the heights of U.S. politics. With stories from those who knew and worked with him, we explore his brand as a relentless fighter—and how an earlier bribery indictment in 2015 sent him off the rails.
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Dismissal
It’s been eight months since the New Jersey State Attorney General indicted George Norcross on racketeering, extortion and political corruption charges. The 111-page indictment alleged that Norcross and his brother Phil ran a criminal enterprise that used political power to force individuals to give up their development rights on the Camden waterfront. But that case has hit a roadblock.
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George Norcross Takes a Front Row Seat for His Own Indictment
On June 17, the New Jersey state attorney general announced an indictment of George Norcross, and the powerful party boss showed up. It was a remarkable moment because Norcross is charged in a racketeering case that, by definition, involves intimidation. The 111-page indictment alleges that Norcross and five others run a criminal enterprise to “extort others through threats and fear of economic and reputational harm.”Note: This episode does contain some foul language.
Dead End is where true crime meets political corruption. From the shocking murder of a politically connected couple to the unraveling of one of the most powerful figures in Washington, Season 2 exposes how power, ambition, and secrecy collide in New Jersey and beyond. In Season 1, we investigated the mysterious deaths of John and Joyce Sheridan, and the political machine connected to them. Now, we trace Senator Bob Menendez’s rise and fall, and the romance and Egyptian spies at the center of his ruin.
Episodes release every Tuesday.
Ireland