On Jan. 31, 2018, the day Senator Robert Menendez was formally cleared of bribery charges that had dogged him for nearly three years in New Jersey, he got a text from Nadine Arslanian, a woman he would soon begin to date and later marry. “Now re-election!!! !” Ms. Arslanian wrote. “Yes!” Mr. Menendez replied before asking, “Are you around on Friday?”She was. After a dinner date at a New Jersey restaurant, it was Ms. Arslanian’s turn to send a text with a question: “What is your international position?”Mr. Menendez, 70, responded that he was the “ranking member” on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee — “which means senior Democrat.”

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Persons: Robert Menendez, Nadine Arslanian, “, Arslanian, Mr, Menendez, Arslanian’s, ” Organizations: Senate Foreign Relations Locations: New Jersey