Bob Menendez of New Jersey was charged Friday with secretly aiding the authoritarian government of Egypt and trying to thwart the criminal prosecution of a friend in exchange for gold bars and cash under a corruption indictment that accuses him of using his foreign affairs influence for personal gain.
Menendez was forced to relinquish his chairmanship of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee but said he would not resign from Congress, though New Jersey’s governor, a fellow Democrat, and other Democrats in the state’s congressional delegation said he should., the second in eight years against the 69-year-old senator, alleges an illegal commingling of Menendez’s obligations to advance U.S. priorities and his private interest in cultivating relationships with wealthy businessmen.
Menendez accused prosecutors of misrepresenting “the normal work of a congressional office” and said he would not allow his work in the Senate to be distracted by “baseless allegations.” Menendez, in an emailed statement, said: “For years, forces behind the scenes have repeatedly attempted to silence my voice and dig my political grave. Since this investigation was leaked nearly a year ago, there has been an active smear campaign of anonymous sources and innuendos to create an air of impropriety where none exists.”
“Bob Menendez has been a dedicated public servant and is always fighting hard for the people of New Jersey. He has a right to due process and a fair trial,” Democratic leader Schumer said in an emailed statement. Separately, after Menendez called a government official about an investigation of a Uribe associate, Uribe and Hana worked to provide the senator’s wife with a Mercedes-Benz convertible. The indictment says that after the transaction was complete, Nadine Menendez texted her husband to say, “Congratulations mon amour de la vie, we are the proud owners of a 2019 Mercedes,” with a heart emoji.
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