NEWS
Sen. Bob Menendez Tells Democrats Will Not Resign As He Fights Corruption Charges
Courtesy of senatormenendez/Instagram
Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) in a closed-door lunch meeting on Thursday told his Democratic Colleagues he would not resign, after pleading not guilty on Wednesday to federal charges of taking bribes and passing sensitive U.S. information to the Egyptian government.
More than half of Senate Democrats have called for his resignation since he was indicted on corruption charges last week, his second corruption indictment. The first to call on him to step down, Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, did not attend the lunch, per reports.
“I’m not interested in some kind of explanation on why he has gold bars in his mattress or anything like that,” Fetterman told reporters on Thursday. He also said he is open to pursuing other means to expel Menendez.
“Now that it’s confirmed that he’s not going to go the honorable way, I would like to pursue whatever avenues are available,” he said.
Menendez, along with his wife, Nadine, are accused of taking bribes worth hundreds of thousands of dollars in exchange for the senator wielding his power on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to benefit the government of Egypt, as well as enriching businessmen Wael Hana, Jose Uribe and Fred Daides, who were also charged.
According to the indictment, Menendez allegedly provided U.S. government information that “secretly aided the Government of Egypt,” and used his position as Foreign Relations chairman to facilitate military sales and other financing for Egypt.
Menendez also allegedly pressured a U.S. Department of Agriculture official to protect a contract for Hana to be the exclusive provider of halal meat to Egypt.
According to the Department of Justice, Menendez and his wife accepted bribes including “gold, cash, a luxury convertible, payments toward Nadine Menendez’s home mortgage, compensation for a low-or-no-show job for Nadine Menendez, home furnishings,” and other items.
Photos showed items seized from the Menendez home by the FBI, including gold bars and piles of cash.
“The allegations leveled against me are just that: allegations,” Menendez said Monday, vowing to remain in office and fight the charges.
Last week, Menendez temporarily stepped down from his position as ranking member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, according to Senate Democratic caucus rules related to felony charges.
This is Menendez’s second corruption indictment. A 2015 indictment ended in a mistrial in 2018.
TMX contributed to this article.
