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Menendez stands firm amid calls to resign, suddenly recalls due process: ‘Innocent until proven guilty’

September 25, 2023 | | Print Article

U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), after hiring Hunter Biden’s attorney Abbe Lowell on Friday, has suddenly had an epiphany and remembers due process, declaring he’s innocent till proven guilty.

He gave a press conference on Monday at Hudson County Community College in Union City, New Jersey bragging about his long career as a Democrat and asserted that he will be exonerated on federal corruption charges, according to Fox News.

Menendez then claimed that hundreds of thousands of dollars found at his home in a safe deposit box, envelopes with his name on them, and stuffed in suit pockets were withdrawn from his personal savings account.

“The allegations leveled against me are just that, allegations,” he proclaimed. “For anyone who has known me throughout my 50 years of public service, they know I have always fought for what is right. My advocacy has always been grounded. And what I learned from growing up as the son of Cuban refugees, especially my mom, my hero, Evangelina Menendez. Everything I accomplished, I worked for despite the nay-sayers and everyone who has underestimated me.”

“I firmly believe that when all the facts are presented, not only will I be exonerated, but I still will be New Jersey’s senior senator,” Menendez contended. “The court of public opinion is no substitute for our revered justice system. We cannot set aside the presumption of innocence for political expediency when the harm is irrevocable.”

Then he took the extremely foolish stance of crowing about his political record on Egypt. Experts told Fox News there is a lot of risk for him in doing so.

“One fact is indisputable, throughout my time in Congress, I have remained steadfast on the side of civil society and human rights defenders in Egypt, and everywhere else in the world,” Menendez declared.

“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 among a myriad of concerns,” he added.

This is the first public appearance for Menendez since his federal indictment was unsealed in the Southern District of New York on Friday. Both the senator and his wife along with three New Jersey businessmen, Wael Hana, Jose Uribe, and Fred Daibes, are being charged with participating in a bribery scheme that spanned years.

“Since 2018, as alleged by federal prosecutors, the three businessmen collectively paid hundreds of thousands of dollars of bribes, including cash, gold, a Mercedes Benz, and other things of value in exchange for Menendez agreeing to use his power and influence to protect and enrich them and to benefit the government of Egypt,” Fox News reported.

“The indictment accuses Menendez of improperly pressuring an official at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to seek to protect a business monopoly granted to Hana by Egypt. The senator is also accused of taking actions seeking to disrupt a criminal investigation undertaken by the Office of the New Jersey Attorney General related to Uribe and his associates,” the media outlet continued.

Menendez is being accused of influence peddling in a pay-to-play scheme and if convicted, could get 45 years behind bars.

“Federal prosecutors say Menendez recommended that President Biden nominate a U.S. Attorney who the senator believed he could influence with respect to Daibes and sought to disrupt a federal criminal prosecution undertaken by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey of Daibes,” Fox News noted.

“In June 2022, the FBI executed a search warrant at Menendez and his wife’s New Jersey home where federal agents many of the fruits of the bribery scheme, including cash, gold, the luxury convertible, and home furnishings. Prosecutors say $480,000 in cash, much of it stuffed into envelopes and hidden in clothing, closets, and a safe, was discovered in the home, as well as over $70,000 in cash in Nadine’s safe deposit box. Some of the envelopes contained the fingerprints and/or DNA of Daibes or his driver, according to the indictment,” the outlet continued.

Prosecutors released damning photos of stacks of cash, bars of Egyptian gold, and a Mercedes-Benz convertible found at Menendez’s home.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and other Democrat members of Congress have called for Menendez to resign. He’s refusing to do so.

In a statement that came out on Friday, Menendez denied all wrongdoing and condemned “how quickly some are rushing to judge a Latino and push him out of his seat.”

“I am not going anywhere,” he vowed and said he would “continue to fight for the people of New Jersey with the same success I’ve had for the past five decades.”

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