It’s business as usual for Sen. Robert Menendez, who bragged to talk show hosts that he still attends secret briefings — despite allegedly working as a foreign agent for Egypt.
The embattled New Jersey Democrat who was indicted on federal corruption charges in September told PBS New Jersey’s Chat Box with David Cruz that “I still have all my intelligence credentials” and that he still attends regular briefings of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
“I was not prevented from attending intelligence briefings,” he said when Cruz asked if he had been sidelined after his latest allegations last month. “I still have all my intelligence credentials.”
Menendez also said that he had attended a classified Senate briefing on the war in Ukraine on Wednesday after a CNN reporter repeatedly questioned him about why he was heading to a classified briefing if he had been accused of working for a foreign government.
“The bottom line is, I’m a United States senator, I have my security credentials, and one charge is just that. It’s not proof of anything,” he told CNN.
New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez gave his first interview following his allegations of corruption and acting as a foreign agent for the Egyptian government last week. He said he was not denied his security clearance at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. NJ Focus News/YouTube
He now faces a bid by fellow Democratic senator John Fetterman (Pa.) to be stripped of access to the secrets.
Fetterman introduced a resolution Thursday that would automatically bar any senator charged with national security violations from access to classified briefings, and remove him from all committees.
The resolution would also prohibit such senators from using public funds for foreign travel, NBC News reported. It does not name the alleged Democrat but only applies to him.
Menendez, 69, was chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee until he was forced by Senate Democratic rules to resign as chairman in September after being charged with crimes including taking gold bars and cash in return for abusing his power as a senator. He denied the allegations.
But he was not fired from the committee by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
Menendez was pictured with an unnamed Egyptian official in his Senate office in the federal indictment against him. Also pictured are his two co-accused, his wife, Nadine Arslanian, and (left) Wael Hanna. US Attorney’s Office
On Thursday he was seen at the Capitol heading to a reception held by the committee for leaders attending the White House summit on President Biden’s “American Partnership for Economic Prosperity” with the presidents of Peru, Ecuador and the Dominican Republic among the guests.
In October, charges were added by federal prosecutors in Manhattan that Menendez had acted as an agent of the Egyptian government in return for bribes, which he also denied.
Impeached Democrats can gain access to national secrets because all members of Congress have automatic security clearances.
Authorities found nearly $500,000 in cash during a search of Senator Menendez’s home last year. He told reporters that he had collected cash by withdrawing $400 each week from his credit union account for the past 30 years. AP Robert Menendez and his wife were charged with receiving gold bars after Menendez allegedly interfered with federal authorities to help their co-defendant evade justice. US Attorney
Regarding Israel, Menendez told Chatbox that he is a key member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee because of his decades-long involvement in the Middle East.
“The reality is for someone who has been doing foreign policy for 31 years and who knows intimately the US-Israeli relationship and the challenges Israel faces, and particularly in the horrific actions of Hamas, I don’t have to go to intelligence. briefing to tell me what we need to do to support Israel,” Menendez said.
Along with Menendez, his wife Nadine Arslanian and three others have been indicted on four counts of corruption and acting as unregistered foreign agents for Egypt.
Prosecutors said authorities found nearly $500,000 in cash at his Englewood Cliffs home as well as gold bars, according to federal indictments.
In his Chatbox interview, Menendez said that he had a record of withdrawing $400 in cash every week from his credit union for 30 years and kept the cash in his home.Getty Images
In his Chatbox interview, Menendez said that he had a record of withdrawing $400 in cash every week from his credit union for 30 years and kept the cash in his home.
He claimed he kept the cash because his Cuban-born parents feared their property would be confiscated by the government, as happened on the island when Fidel Castro came to power. They were gone long before that.
“The government has that record,” he said. “They have an account that shows that, but they choose not to use it.”
Federal prosecutors also allege that Nadine Arslanian received a Mercedes convertible from a co-defendant in exchange for the senator’s help in trying to quash a criminal investigation into insurance fraud.
He needed a car after his vehicle was destroyed in a 2018 crash in which he killed a pedestrian in New Jersey. The 56-year-old was never charged in connection with the death.
An attorney for Menendez did not return a request for comment Thursday. The Post has reached out to Schumer’s office for comment.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
