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"I
have never violated the public trust. I have been a patriot for
and of my country," the Democratic senator, a senior member of
the Foreign Relations Committee, said in an emotional speech.
"By filing three indictments... it allows the government to keep
the sensational story in the press, it poisons the jury pool and
it seeks to convict me in the court of public opinion," he said.
Prosecutors filed an indictment in Manhattan federal court on
Jan. 2, accusing Menendez and his wife Nadine of receiving gold
and tickets to a Formula One race, in exchange for helping
businessman Fred Daibes negotiate a multimillion-dollar
investment for a real estate project in New Jersey.
According to the indictment, Menendez, who has represented New
Jersey in the Senate since 2006, had in June 2021 introduced
Daibes to a member of the Qatari royal family who ran an
investment company.
Menendez pleaded not guilty in October to conspiring to act as
an unregistered agent of the Egyptian government, and accepting
hundreds of thousands of dollars from New Jersey businessmen to
impede law enforcement probes they faced.
The senator faces conspiracy charges, including conspiring to
commit bribery, honest services fraud, extortion and acting as a
foreign agent.
He has denied wrongdoing and resisted calls to resign, but had
to step down as chairman of the foreign relations panel after
the charges were brought in September.
(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
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