New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez indicted on federal bribery charges

Senator Bob Menendez is blaming unnamed forces for repeatedly trying to dig his political grave as he faces wide-ranging accusations of a

bribery

scheme. The embattled senator temporarily resigned as chairman of the House Foreign Relations Committee, but is rejecting calls from his fellow Democrats to resign. Prosecutors alleged that Menendez and his wife accepted multiple bribes, including nearly half a million dollars in cash, $100,000 in gold bars and a luxury car. Scott McFarland has the latest from Washington: The indictment against New Jersey Democrat Robert Menendez and his wife alleges extensive corruption, trading political favors with three new Jersey businessmen in exchange for riches,

federal

agents say when they raided family home last summer they found gold bars worth one hundred thousand dollars, four hundred eighty thousand dollars in cash, some stuffed in envelopes found in a jacket bearing Menendez's name and outside in the driveway. a sixty-thousand-dollar Mercedes-Benz convertible that was allegedly given to them by one of the businessmen he assisted in the accusations while agents discovered a Google search conducted by Menéndez asking how much a kilo of gold is worth.

The senator and his wife accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in exchange for Senator Menéndez using his power and influence to protect and enrich those businessmen. Prosecutors very welcome. Elijah Menendez served as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to help one of the Egyptian-American businessmen. confidential information about the US embassy in Cairo that was eventually shared with the Egyptian government. They say the scheme began in 2018, just months after a mistrial was declared in a previous corruption case in which Menendez was involved. I've made my share of mistakes, but my mistakes. They were never a crime, the new accusation details the participation of Menéndez's wife, the Lebanese-born Nadine Arslanian, whom he married in 2020 after 10 months of dating, here the senator is seen serenading her at the Taj Mahal in the India in these hands before proposing Arslanian is accused of making a non-show job decision with Hannah, who allegedly had close ties to Egyptian intelligence and, according to the indictment, Hana in a text message to an Egyptian general referred to Menéndez as our man, the 69-year-old senator who will temporarily step aside from his role as committee chairman criticized the

charges

that the excesses of these prosecutors are evident.

They have misrepresented the normal work of a congressional office. Also, they attacked my wife. Congressional Ethics Watchdog Noah, Binder, no matter the outcome of this case, no matter which party believes this damages public trust. Corruption in any party, any part of the ideological spectrum, is detrimental to the American people's faith in government. Menendez's problems could complicate Democrats' attempt to maintain a slim majority in the Senate next year. He is up for re-election and has not announced any plans to resign if he does. It would be the Democratic governor of New Jersey who would appoint his replacement for CBS on Saturday morning, Scott McFarland at the Capitol.