WASHINGTON —Sen Bob Menendez of New Jersey recommended Monday that numerous countless dollars in money taken by federal detectives from his house as part of a probe that resulted in his bribery indictment originated from his individual cost savings account.
“I have withdrawn thousands of dollars in cash from my personal savings account, what I have kept for emergencies and because of the history of my family facing confiscation in Cuba,” Menendez stated throughout an interview in Union, New Jersey.
“Now this may seem old-fashioned, but these were monies drawn from my personal savings account based on the income that I have lawfully derived,” the Democrat included.
He once again stated he had no strategies to resign from the Senate, regardless of calls that he do so fromGov Phil Murphy and other leading New Jersey Democrats.
Menendez, 69, and his other half, Nadine, were prosecuted on federal bribery charges in New York recently.
Prosecutors implicated the couple of accepting allurements consisting of money, gold bars, a Mercedes-Benz automobile and home mortgage payments from 3 New Jersey business owners, who likewise have actually been charged in the case.
Investigators equipped with a warrant to search Menendez’s house in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, in 2015 discovered more than $480,000 in money “hidden in clothing, closets, and a safe,” according to the three-count indictment in Manhattan federal court.
Menendez on Monday, in about 25 minutes of remarks made in English and Spanish, did not attend to the gold bars discovered in his house. That gold deserves an approximated $155,000
Over $480,000 in money– much of it packed into envelopes and concealed in clothes, closets, and a safe– was found in the house, in addition to over $70,000 in Nadine Menendez’s safe deposit box, district attorneys stated.
Source: SDNY
“Prosecutors get it wrong sometimes,” he stated.
“I recognize this will be the biggest fight yet, but as I have stated throughout this whole process, 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 stated.
He did not address any concerns from press reporters at the occasion.
The indictment implicates Menendez of providing “sensitive” U.S. federal government details to the federal government of Egypt, and taking other actions that helped that country.
It likewise declares that he attempted to utilize his position to impact criminal probes of 2 of the business owners, and pressed a U.S. Agriculture Department authorities to safeguard an organization monopoly in Egypt for the 3rd business owner.
U.S.Sen Robert Menendez, D-N.J., speaks at a press conference after he and his other half, Nadine Menendez, were prosecuted on bribery charges, in Union City, New Jersey,Sept 25, 2023.
Mike Segar|Reuters
Menendez on Friday called the charges “an active smear campaign.”
“I am not going anywhere,” Menendez stated then. “Those who believe in justice believe in innocence until proven guilty. I intend to continue to fight for the people of New Jersey with the same success I’ve had for the past five decades.”
Over the weekend, Menendez employed lawyer Abbe Lowell to represent him in the event.
Lowell represented Menendez at his federal corruption trial in 2017, which ended with a jury deadlocked on charges. Prosecutors later on dropped that case.
Lowell likewise is presently protecting President Joe Biden’s boy, Hunter Biden, on federal tax and gun charges.
