A legal obstacle that helped get New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez off the hook in his 2015 federal corruption case will factor into the new criminal charges he faces in an indictment unsealed in Manhattan Friday.

The veteran Democrat, 69, was previously accused by New Jersey federal prosecutors of using his influence to help Florida eye doctor and pal Salomon Melgen in exchange for gifts and campaign contributions — but the case ended in a mistrial in 2017 when the jury deadlocked.

New Jersey federal Judge William Walls then tossed seven of the 18 charges Menendez faced, finding that prosecutors had failed to show an explicit quid pro quo with Melgen. And the remaining charges were then dropped by prosecutors, who said they wouldn’t retry the case.

Walls, in his decision, said he was guided by a 2016 US Supreme Court ruling in the case against ex-Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell that narrowed the definition of an “official action” — making bribery and corruption cases against elected officials harder to prove.

Under the McDonnell ruling, certain political favors — such as taking a meeting, talking to another official or organizing an event — no longer constitute official acts.

Former federal prosecutor Brian Whisler, of firm Baker McKenzie, said Manhattan federal prosecutors – who have charged Menendez with a three-count indictment — would be cognizant of the McDonnell ruling and of the prior mistrial.

“The prosecutors were very mindful of the fact that if they were going to take a second crack at a sitting US senator it would really need to be a headshot,” said Whisler, who represented witnesses who testified at McDonnell’s trial.

“Even though it’s not legally relevant that he was previously charged in a separate and distinct case for which he was mistried — everyone would know that it would somehow find its way into the proceedings and the average juror would expect that this case would be very viable.”

The new indictment, unrelated to the prior New Jersey case, alleges that Menendez and his wife Nadine pocketed hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes — including gold bars, a Mercedes-Benz convertible and home furnishings — in exchange for helping the government of Egypt and three Garden State businessmen.

During the six-week 2017 trial, prosecutors argued that Menendez set up meetings with homeland security and health officials as Melgen, an ophthalmologist from the Sunshine State, made campaign donations and flew him on his private jet to his villa in the Dominican Republic.

The duo’s defense attorneys’ argued that the gifts and favors arose from Melgen and Menendez’s 20-year friendship, not from a corrupt agreement.

Whisler said the Manhattan indictment differs from the previous case in that it involves Egyptian government officials and “the evidence appears to be of a different more conspicuous quality.”

The lawyer also said the fact that the indictment was very detailed “was by design.”

“Prosecutors want to show the world they really think they have a strong case,” Whisler said. “We also hope the co-defendants will see that for what it is and will be inclined to cooperate.”

Who's involved in the indictment of Sen. Bob Menendez

The New Jersey Democrat is facing charges of taking gold bars and bribes and stashing hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash around his house in return for using his “power and influence” — including his position as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee — to benefit the Egyptian government and two local businessmen.

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Sen. Robert Menendez and Nadine Menendez

The New Jersey Democrat was indicted Friday for allegedly accepting a Mercedes-Benz C-Class sedan, 13 gold bars and $566,000 in cash, which FBI agents found “stuffed in envelopes” after a June 2022 search of his home.

Senator Menendez’s wife, Nadine, was indicted alongside her husband for taking bribes. The Menendezes also received mortgage payments, a recliner, exercise machines and other items in exchange for shielding co-defendants Wael Hana, Jose Uribe and Fred Daibes.

Bob Menendez also allegedly attempted to intervene in a criminal case against Daibes by recommending President Biden pick current New Jersey US Attorney Philip Sellinger, who the senator believed would apply a light touch to the case.

If convicted on all charges, the Democratic senator faces up to 45 years in prison.

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Fred Daibes

Menendez and his wife allegedly had a longstanding relationship with New Jersey real estate developer Fred Daibes, who court papers say bribed the couple with gold bars and cash for a series of favors, including the senator’s help disrupting a federal prosecution into Daibes.

Daibes received probation after pleading guilty last year to entering false loan information.

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Jose Uribe

In April 2019, Menendez’s wife met a former insurance agent from Union City, NJ, Jose Uribe, “for five minutes.” Nadine Menendez ducked into the parking lot of a restaurant where Uribe, 56, handed her $15,000 in cash, court papers allege.

She then used the cash to make a down payment on a Mercedes-Benz C-class convertible – while Uribe asked the senator to tamper with the state attorney general’s prosecution of one of his colleagues for insurance fraud, according to the court docs.

Wael Hana

Menendez allegedly updated unnamed Egyptian officials in real-time about US military aid to the country through Edgewater, NJ, businessman Wael Hana. The businessman sent Menendez’s proposal for foreign military sale to Egypt of tens of thousands of rounds of ammunition for firearms and tanks to an Egyptian official for approval.

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In early 2021, Hana allegedly used funds from his halal business to send two exercise machines and an air purifier, among other items, to the Menendez home.

In exchange for these gifts and other alleged bribes, Menendez improperly pressured a US Department of Agriculture official to protect Hana’s “exclusive monopoly,” granted in 2019, on signing off on US food exported to Egypt as compliant with halal standards, despite Hana having no prior experience with halal certification, the feds said.

In the wake of the McDonnell ruling, several other corruption convictions have been overturned including for the former New York state Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos and his son, Adam Skelos in 2017.

Ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo pal and top aide Joe Percoco also had his fraud conviction overturned in May due to McDonnell.

In a statement Friday, Menendez said he’d “been falsely accused” and said for years people have been trying to “dig my political grave,” blasting the cases against him as “the excesses of these prosecutors.”

He said what prosecutors have painted as corruption is merely part of “the normal work of a Congressional office.”