Senator Robert Menendez, Democrat of New Jersey, returned Monday to Union Metropolis, the group the place he rose to political prominence, to supply a transparent reply to former allies who’ve known as for his resignation within the face of federal bribery prices: No.
“The allegations leveled towards me are simply that — allegations.” Mr. Menendez stated at a information convention at a group school not removed from the place he grew up, the kid of Cuban immigrants.
“I acknowledge that this would be the largest combat but,” he stated, including that when the judicial course of concluded, he anticipated that “not solely will I be exonerated, I’ll nonetheless be New Jersey’s senior senator.”
Standing behind the senator, towards a wall, have been roughly two dozen folks he known as “on a regular basis folks and constituents who know me.”
It was the primary time he had appeared publicly since federal prosecutors in Manhattan unsealed a 39-page indictment on Friday that accused him and his spouse, Nadine Menendez, of accepting lots of of 1000’s of {dollars} in bribes in trade for wielding his political affect to learn the federal government of Egypt and enterprise associates in New Jersey.
Investigators discovered $550,000 in money and 13 bars of gold bullion throughout a June 2022 search of a secure deposit field and the couple’s residence in Englewood Cliffs, N.J.
Lots of New Jersey’s most distinguished Democratic leaders have known as on Mr. Menendez, 69, to step down.
On the information convention, talking first in English after which in Spanish, Mr. Menendez reiterated a lot of the message he supplied instantly after the indictment was introduced. He stated he was assured the case can be resolved favorably, and he urged persistence “to permit all of the details to be introduced.”
The indictment depicted a far-reaching net of political corruption involving support and weapons gross sales to Egypt and efforts by Mr. Menendez to influence state and federal prosecutors to go simple on his associates in three prison instances.
Mr. Menendez was chairman of the Overseas Relations Committee till stepping apart on Friday, as required by guidelines the Senate Democrats adopted to manipulate themselves.
Mr. Menendez, his spouse, and three New Jersey businessmen, who have been additionally accused within the bribery conspiracy, are anticipated to look Wednesday in federal courtroom in Manhattan to answer the costs.
Nadine Menendez, 56, Mr. Menendez’s spouse of three years, didn’t attend the information convention.
New Jersey’s governor, Philip D. Murphy, an in depth ally of Mr. Menendez, known as for the senator’s resignation Friday night, unleashing a refrain of comparable messages from fellow Democratic leaders throughout the state.
On Saturday, Consultant Andy Kim, a third-term Democrat from South Jersey, stated he would problem Mr. Menendez in subsequent 12 months’s major.
“Not one thing I anticipated to do, however NJ deserves higher,” Mr. Kim stated on X, the social media platform previously often known as Twitter. “We can’t jeopardize the Senate or compromise our integrity.”
