Senator Bob Menendez refuses to resign, despite calls from his fellow Democrats: “I’m not going anywhere”

Sen. Bob Menendez will not resign despite calls for his resignation after he was indicted on federal corruption charges related to an alleged years-long bribery scheme, the New Jersey Democrat announced Friday.

“Those who believe in justice believe in innocence until proven otherwise,” Menendez, 69, said in a statement.

“I intend to continue fighting for the people of New Jersey with the same success I have had over the past five decades. This is the same track record of success that these same leaders have praised all along.”

Menendez, who has served in the Senate since 2006, wildly claimed that his ethnicity is playing a role in calls for his ouster from the upper house.

“It doesn’t escape me how quickly some are quick to judge a Latino and remove him from his seat,” he said.

“I am not going anywhere.”

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York on Friday charged Menendez and his wife, Nadine Menendez, 56, with three counts of conspiracy in connection with what prosecutors call a “corrupt bribery deal” that benefited the couple, three New Jersey businessmen and the government of Egypt.

Senator Bob MenendezNew Jersey Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez will not resign despite calls for his resignation after he was indicted on federal corruption charges related to an alleged years-long bribery scheme.

The Democrat allegedly accepted a $60,000 Mercedes Benz C-Class sedan, 13 gold bars and $566,000 in cash in exchange for providing Egyptian officials with confidential, non-public US government information and pressuring US officials to release $300 million. in aid of Cairo.

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Prosecutors also say Menendez and his wife received mortgage payments, a recliner, exercise machines and other items in exchange for protecting the business interests of co-defendants Wael Hana, José Uribe and Fred Daibes, and protecting Uribe and Daibes of criminal investigations.

Menendez, while pledging to remain in the Senate, has stepped aside from his chairmanship of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee “until the matter is resolved,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said Friday. ).

FBI agents carry boxes as law enforcement officers investigate the medical office complex of Dr. Salomon Melgen, who has possible ties to U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) on January 30, 2013 in West Palm Beach, Florida.Menendez, who has served in the Senate since 2006, wildly claimed that his ethnicity is playing a role in calls for his ouster from the upper house.Getty Images

Democratic New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy demanded Menendez’s immediate resignation from the Senate amid the charges, calling the impeachment claims “deeply disturbing” and “so serious that they compromise Senator Menendez’s ability to effectively represent the Senate.” people of our state.”

Other Democrats, including Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.), Rep. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) and former Attorney General Eric Holder, have also called on Menendez to resign.

What we know about the Bob Menéndez accusation

New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez faces federal corruption charges related to an alleged multi-year scheme.

Menendez allegedly accepted bribes, including gold bars, in exchange for helping three businessmen, Wael Hana, José Uribe and Fred Daibes, and the country of Egypt, according to officials.

Menendez and his wife, Nadine, were accused of accepting hundreds of thousands of bribes, according to a Manhattan federal indictment.

When the feds raided Menendez’s Englewood Cliffs home in June 2022, they found a 2019 Mercedes C-Class, at least 13 gold bars and $566,000 in cash “stuffed in envelopes.” Another $70,000 in cash was found in Nadine’s safe deposit box.

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    Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., and his wife Nadine Menendez.Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and his wife, Nadine Menendez, were indicted on federal corruption charges.AP

The feds say Menendez also received mortgage payments and paid for a low- or no-support job and home furnishings.

This is not the first time the 69-year-old Democrat has faced federal corruption charges. In 2015, Menendez was accused of accepting gifts from Florida eye surgeon Salomon Melgen.

The “gifts” included a vacation to Paris, flights on a private jet, and a vacation to Melgen’s villa in the Dominican Republic.

Menendez dodged a previous federal indictment in 2017 after a jury deadlocked on corruption and bribery charges, resulting in a mistrial.

In that case, prosecutors alleged that the Garden State senator accepted nearly $1 million in private jet flights, vacations and other gifts from Florida ophthalmologist Dr. Salomon Melgen in exchange for acquiring visas for the doctor’s foreign girlfriends.

Follow The Post’s latest coverage of the impeachment of New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez

Investigators also alleged that Menendez received heavy political donations in exchange for helping Melgen secure lucrative government contracts.

Menendez was also previously investigated for corruption in 2006 by then-New Jersey U.S. Attorney Chris Christie over allegations that a nonprofit group rented him space while he helped it obtain grants.

No charges were filed in that case and the investigation was closed in 2011.

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Source: vtt.edu.vn

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