Sen. Bob Menendez’s defense against new federal corruption charges against him, his wife, and business associates Friday revealed that he’s adopting the same defiant stance he took when he also faced federal corruption charges six years ago.
A controversial three-term senator who has held office at every level across Democrat-controlled New Jersey, Menendez vowed to fight the latest corruption charges that accused him of accepting hundreds of thousands in cash and gold from foreign businessmen.
And in an eyebrow-raising move, Menendez has retained Abbe Lowell to defend him. Lowell is representing President Joe Biden’s troubled son, Hunter, over his federal charges. Lowell previously represented Menendez in his 2017 federal corruption trial.
According to The Daily Wire —
Lowell was hired by Hunter Biden after his plea deal fell apart in federal court last month which eventually led to prosecutors charging Hunter Biden on firearm-related charges.
In almost the same language he used in 2017 after a mistrial on corruption charges, Menendez cast the indictment Friday in political terms and vowed to continue his work in the Senate.
“For years, forces behind the scenes have repeatedly attempted to silence my voice and dig my political grave,” Menendez said in a statement. It was an echo from six years earlier, when he addressed “those who were digging my political grave” and told them he would not forget who they were.
Unlike his first federal corruption trial, New Jersey’s Democratic establishment support for Menendez eroded Friday.
Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy, the leaders of the Democrat-led Legislature and the state party chairman called for his resignation.
“The alleged facts are so serious that they compromise the ability of Senator Menendez to effectively represent the people of our state. Therefore, I am calling for his immediate resignation,” Murphy said in a statement.
Menendez, 69, has survived politically for nearly five decades.
Menendez was appointed to be a U.S. senator in 2006 when the seat opened up after incumbent Jon Corzine became governor. He was elected outright in 2006 and again in 2012 and 2018. He served as chair of the influential Senate Foreign Relations Committee beginning in 2013, but lost that post after the earlier corruption indictment. He regained the position after federal prosecutors did not renew charges in that case, which ended in a mistrial.
Prosecutors said Menendez again used his position as chairmen to protect Egyptian businessmen and give U.S. taxpayer money to the country in exchange for cash bribes, gold, and luxury cars.
On Friday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Menendez “temporarily” stepped down from his role as chairman until the matter is resolved.
The 2018 contest was noteworthy because it came just after the 2017 mistrial and the Republican Party had poured millions into defeating him. He prevailed and hasn’t hinted at retirement.
Menendez, whose wife Nadine also was charged in the Friday indictment, married in 2020.
The first time Menendez was indicted, authorities said he used his political influence to help a Florida eye doctor who gave him lavish gifts and campaign contributions.
He was accused of pressuring officials to resolve a Medicare billing dispute in favor of his friend Dr. Salomon Melgen, securing visas for the doctor’s girlfriends and helping protect a contract the doctor had to provide port-screening equipment to the Dominican Republic. He declared his innocence then and wasn’t charged again after a jury deadlocked in 2017.
The new set of charges unveiled Friday allege Menendez took repeated actions to benefit Egypt despite US. government concerns over the country’s human rights record, including ghost-writing a letter to fellow senators encouraging them to lift a hold on $300 million in aid to Egypt as well as transmitting non-public information to Egyptian officials about military issues, the indictment says.
He’s also accused of trying to derail the criminal case against one of the businessmen advocating to install Philip R. Sellinger to be the U.S. attorney for New Jersey.
Menendez believed he could influence Sellinger, prosecutors said, and also tried to use his position of power to meddle in a separate investigation by the New Jersey attorney general’s office.
2021 FLASHBACK: Major cash scandal snares top Dem senator
The Horn editorial team and the Associated Press contributed to this article