March 12, 2024
MITSU YASUKAWA/NORTHJERSEY.COM; USA TODAY NETWORK
New federal charges against Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and his wife claim they covered up bribes by claiming they were loans.
The legal woes of Sen. Bob Menendez and his wife Nadine continue to pile up, and the pair on Monday morning pleaded not guilty to charges that arose last week.
Bob and Nadine Menendez appeared in court to enter their third not guilty plea relating to a string of indictments in an ongoing corruption scandal. The 12 new felony charges include bribery, extortion and obstruction of justice, bringing the total amount of charges against the senator to 18.
According to the superseding indictment, Menendez (D-N.J.) and his wife allegedly attempted to cover up a bribery scheme, misleading prosecutors about payments made to the couple. Prosecutors claim Menendez told his then-lawyer to explain bribes away as loans toward the pair's car and home mortgage.
Menendez has maintained that he is innocent, releasing a statement on the new charges, per NBC10.
"The government has now falsely alleged a cover-up and obstruction," the statement reads. "The latest charge reveals far more about the government than it says about me. It says that the prosecutors are afraid of the facts, scared to subject their charges to the fair-minded scrutiny of a jury, and unconstrained by any sense of justice or fair play. It says, once and for all, that they will stop at nothing in their zeal to get me."
The indictment alleges that after the FBI searched the Menendez home and sent subpoenas relating to the apparent car payments, Nadine Menendez met with New Jersey businessman Jose Uribe, and the two are said to have agreed to call the payments a "loan."
Initial charges from September 2023 claim that Menendez and his wife received bribes in the form of cash and gold bars in exchange for political favors for the Egyptian government, and new charges in January alleged similar dealings with the Qatari government.
Uribe pled guilty to charges relating to the scandal earlier this month and is cooperating with prosecutors. Two other businessmen involved pled not guilty. The senator has remained defiant toward the charges, refusing to resign his seat despite calls from colleagues, including Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.).
Menendez has not explicitly stated whether or not he will run for reelection this year, but New Jersey first lady Tammy Murphy announced in November that she will run for his Senate seat. Menendez's trial is scheduled for May 6.
