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NEW YORK — Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) on Monday pleaded not guilty to federal charges of conspiring to work as an agent of the Egyptian government while serving in the U.S. Senate.
Menendez appeared before U.S. District Court Judge Sidney H. Stein to enter his plea in response to a superseding indictment, which was made public Oct. 12 and charged the veteran lawmaker with conspiracy to act as an illegal foreign agent on behalf of Egypt while serving as chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Menendez, 69, lost his prominent position on the committee when he was indicted, in accordance with Senate rules.
Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey indicted on federal bribery charges
Menendez; his wife, Nadine Menendez; and an associate, Wael Hana, were charged with conspiring to have the senator act as an illegal foreign agent on behalf of the Egyptian government.
Federal prosecutors charged Menendez and his wife with bribery last month, alleging that they accepted cash and gifts totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars in exchange for assistance to the Egyptian government between 2018 and 2022.
The senator, his wife, and associates Hana, Fred Daibes and Jose Uribe were charged with conspiracy to commit bribery and conspiracy to commit honest services fraud in an indictment unsealed Sept. 22. The Menendezes also were charged with conspiracy to commit extortion as a public official. All the defendants pleaded not guilty.
Nadine Menendez and Hana entered not guilty pleas to the additional counts when they appeared before Stein last week. Bob Menendez had been excused until Monday because he was dealing with Senate business.
Menendez has rejected calls from other Democratic officials — including New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and Sen. Cory Booker (N.J.) — to resign.
Sen. Bob Menendez charged with conspiring to act as foreign agent
“Piling new charge upon new charge does not make the allegations true,” Menendez said in a statement after the superseding indictment was filed. “… It is an attempt to wear someone down, and I will not succumb to this tactic.”
A trial date has been set for May 6.
Menendez was indicted previously on corruption charges in an unrelated federal case. In 2017, he beat the charges after a New Jersey jury could not reach a unanimous decision.
Source link: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/10/23/senator-bob-menendez-charge/