Sen. Bob Menendez (DN.J.) walks on the Senate subway to vote at the Capitol on May 4, 2023 in Washington, DC.
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WASHINGTON — Sen. Robert Menendez vowed Friday to remain in the Senate while he fights federal charges of bribery and extortion announced earlier in the day. The indictment marks the second time a New Jersey Democrat has been indicted on corruption charges as a sitting senator.
As chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Menendez holds one of the most powerful gavels in Congress. However, “a chairperson charged with a felony must immediately leave the chair.” Democratic caucus rules.
Menendez planned to relinquish his chairmanship While he was being indicted, NBC News reported, but not about his seat in Congress.
“I remain focused on continuing this important work and will not be distracted by these unfounded allegations,” Menendez said in a statement.
The senator and his wife, Nadine Menendez, were each indicted on Friday on three criminal charges after a years-long federal investigation.
Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said the couple had bought three New Jersey business associates “in exchange for Sen. Menendez using his power and influence to protect and enrich them. He is accused of accepting $10,000 in bribes. , who filed the complaint.
“Those bribes included cash, but Moneymortgage payments, missed or no-show work compensation [for Nadine]luxury cars, and other items of value,” the federal indictment alleges.
U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damien Williams speaks at a press conference after announcing that Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) has been indicted on corruption charges at the SDNY office in New York City on September 22, 2023. talk. .
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The senator opened up to the accusations, accusing prosecutors of “misrepresenting the normal operations of the parliamentary secretariat” and “attacking his wife on the basis of their long-standing friendship.”
This counterargument, that what prosecutors allege as bribes in exchange for favors are actually just personal friendships, typical of the work of a U.S. senator, was brought up by Menendez in 2015. It was the same thing he did the last time he was indicted for corruption. That argument worked in the senator’s favor.
Menendez was indicted on 14 counts, along with co-defendant Salomon Melgen, an ophthalmologist from Florida. Prosecutors accused him of bribing Menendez with lavish gifts in exchange for using the Senate’s power to advance Melgen’s business interests.
However, the jury in this case was unable to reach a unanimous verdict, and the judge issued the following verdict: Miscarriage of justice In 2017.
On Friday, Menendez said prosecutors were pulling off the same failed play a second time.
“The facts are not as stated in the indictment,” he said. “Prosecutors did the same thing last time and we’ll see what the trial shows.”
But even though prosecutors on Friday released damning photos of gold bars and wads of $100 bills found in Menendez’s home, the senior New Jersey senator and his co-defendants were never convicted. I am not totally sure.
Over the past two decades, several high-profile cases have raised the bar for proof in political corruption cases against elected officials.
One of them is former Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens (R), who was indicted on bribery charges in 2008 for accepting home improvements from an oil company executive. After Stevens died in his 2010 plane crash, Formal report reveals serious misconduct by prosecutors and investigators.
At the heart of these cases is a change in the way the law distinguishes between corrupt favors by elected officials and legitimate “official acts.”
old virginia Governor Bob McDonnell He was convicted of corruption in 2014, but the conviction was overturned by the Supreme Court two years later.
In a unanimous decision, the high court found that prosecutors applied what the justices called an “open-ended” definition of what constitutes official conduct.
Chief Justice John Roberts, author of the 2016 opinion, wrote that “Arranging a meeting, calling another public official, or hosting an event do not, by themselves, constitute “official acts.” ” he wrote.
Another former lawmaker, William Jefferson (D-Louisiana), who was convicted of corruption in the aftermath of McDonnell, also appealed his conviction while in prison.
At the time, Jefferson was six years into a 13-year sentence.In light of the new precedent, a U.S. District Court judge reversed seven of Jefferson’s 10 charges and ordered him to released During his prison term in 2017.
