Sept. 25 (UPI) — New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez said he would not resign and called for the public to wait for more information Monday following a three-count federal indictment against him.
Menendez, D-N.J., was indicted on Friday, facing allegations of accepting bribes and using his position to benefit three New Jersey businessmen and the government of Egypt. During a press conference Monday, Menendez dismissed the allegations and defended his record on fighting human rights abuses in Egypt.
“I recognize this will be the biggest fight yet,” Menendez said. “I firmly believe when all the facts are presented not only will I be exonerated but I will still be New Jersey’s senior senator.”
The 69-year-old senator stepped down from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Friday. Colleagues on both sides of the aisle have called for him to resign from the Senate, including Democrats Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.
“Instead of waiting for all the facts to be presented, others have rushed to judgment seeking a political opportunity for themselves and those around them,” Menendez said. “All I ask for in this moment — is to pause and allow for all the facts to be presented.”
The allegations relating to Egypt assert that Menendez used his leadership role on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to provide sensitive information to Egyptian officials and secretly aid the government of Egypt.
Menendez argues that he has “remained steadfast on the side of civil society and human rights defenders in Egypt and everywhere else in the world.”
“If you look at my actions related to Egypt during the period described in this indictment and throughout my whole career, my record is clear and consistent in holding Egypt accountable for its unjust detention of American citizens and others, its human rights abuses, its deepening relationship with Russia and efforts that have eroded the independence of the nation’s judiciary,” he said.
The FBI found $500,000 of cash kept in envelopes and jacket pockets in Menendez’s home, which he said Friday came from his personal savings.
“For 30 years I have withdrawn thousands of dollars in cash from my personal savings account which I have kept for emergencies because of the history of my family facing confiscation in Cuba,” Menendez said. “This may seem old fashioned but these were monies drawn from my personal savings account based on the income that I have lawfully earned derived over those 30 years.”
