Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) will not attend a classified briefing on Israel this week amid accusations that he is acting as an unregistered foreign agent of the Egyptian government.
“He will not attend the briefing tomorrow,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) told reporters on Tuesday, declining to comment on whether that was his decision or the New Jersey Democrat’s.
“I’ve had private conversations, I’m not involved in what goes on in them, about things like this,” Schumer said. “He was absent.”
Menendez, 69, was indicted earlier this month on charges of illegally acting as an Egyptian foreign agent after previously being indicted in September on corruption charges, related to allegations that he collected hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of gold bars and other bribes in exchange for his influence as a senator.
The senator, who is facing calls to resign from some of his Senate Democratic colleagues, claimed it was his decision not to attend Wednesday’s secret briefing.
“I made my own decision not to attend,” Menendez told reporters Tuesday, according to his spokesman. “After 30 years doing foreign policy and [being] intimately involved with our relationship with Israel, there is nothing I will hear in a confidential hearing that will change my view of what needs to be done.”
Menendez claims it was his decision not to attend Wednesday’s secret Senate briefing on Israel.AP Menendez is accused of accepting bribes, which included gold bullion, cash, and luxury convertibles.Steven Hirsch
Menedez previously told Politico, before Schumer’s announcement, that he had not decided whether to attend the briefing.
Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), who on Sept. 23 became the first Democratic senator to call on Menendez to step down, expressed concern about the possibility of the New Jersey Democrat allegedly participating in briefings on Israel’s war on Hamas terrorists.
“Is it awkward to attend a classified briefing on Israel when you have been accused of being a foreign agent of, say, a country like Egypt. Asking for a friend,” Fetterman said in a tweet.
The Pennsylvania Democrat, who last week called on the full Senate to vote on a resolution to impeach Menendez, tweeted a sarcastic “Family Guy” GIF after Scumer’s announcement, with the caption, “What? Oh no.”
Menendez faces decades in prison if convicted of all charges. US Attorney’s Office
Menendez relinquished his chairmanship of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in September, hours after his indictment on corruption charges, but he continues to serve on the powerful panel.
Menendez, who has served in the Senate since 2006, has steadfastly proclaimed his innocence, resisting calls to resign and not ruling out a run for re-election next year.
“I have, all my life, been loyal to only one country — the United States, the country my family chose to live in democracy and freedom,” Menedez said after the unregistered foreign agent charge was brought against him last week.
“Showing new charges upon new charges does not make the allegations true. The facts haven’t changed, just new charges. It is an attempt to undermine someone and I will not submit to this tactic. I again ask people who know me and my record to give me an opportunity to present my defense and show my innocence,” he added.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
