(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., decried on Tuesday what he described as political “persecution” by the DOJ, citing scathing criminal charges stemming from allegations of he served as a foreign agent while chairing the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Menendez, who previously suggested that former President Donald Trump might have been “compromised” by the Russian government, has now accused the DOJ of deliberately undermining his political career, as reported by the New York Post.
“The United States Attorney’s Office has engaged not in a prosecution, but a persecution. They seek a victory, but not justice,” Menendez stated, referencing the most recent federal indictment. This indictment accuses him of unlawfully assisting a Qatar company linked to the Qatari royal family.
He further claimed, “By filing three indictments — one in late September, a second one a few weeks later in mid-October and a third one just last week in early January — it allows the government to keep the sensational story in the press, it poisons the jury pool and it seeks to convict me in the court of public opinion.”
Senator Bob Menendez (@SenatorMenendez) spits fire, says he won’t step aside, has done nothing wrong, and that in the United States of America, everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond any reasonable doubt, will not be bullied, has never taken the easy road. WATCH pic.twitter.com/i3rYCaJeHq
— Simon Ateba (@simonateba) January 10, 2024
Menendez’s fall from grace began when federal prosecutors alleged in September 2023 that he and his wife, Nadine Menendez, accepted bribes for political favors. A raid on Menendez’s residence uncovered cash, gold bars and an infamous Mercedes Benz luxury vehicle—all of which prosecutors claimed were obtained through the corruption scheme.
A month later, he faced charges of acting as an agent of the Egyptian government, allegedly advocating favorable policies for the North African country.
A newly announced indictment on Jan. 2 accused Menendez of aiding real estate developer Fred Daibes in dealings with a Qatari royal member to secure a deal, according to the NY Post.
“There is no evidence of the giving or receiving of cash and gold bars. In fact, there has been and will be a trial, a full explanation of what is the truth about those issues,” Menendez claimed, contradicting evidence released by prosecutors.
He continued, “Almost everyone, including my friends in the press who have reported on it, haven’t read the indictment. They’ve only taken the government’s sensational narrative of what those accusations are as truth.”
