NEW YORK – U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez returned to a New York court Monday and pleaded not guilty to a conspiracy charge alleging that he acted as an agent of the Egyptian government while chairing the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Menendez, 69, appeared before Judge Sidney H. Stein in federal court in Manhattan. The judge informed Menendez that he does not plan to change the trial date even if the senator decides to change attorneys at some point.
The New Jersey Democrat resigned from his powerful position leading the Senate committee after he was impeached in September. Prosecutors said the senator and his wife, Nadine Menendez, accepted bribes of cash, gold bars and a luxury car over the past five years from three New Jersey businessmen in exchange for a variety of corrupt acts.
The other defendants entered not guilty charges in a superseding indictment last week. The senator was allowed to delay his arraignment in order to attend to his Senate duties. He has said that throughout his life he has been loyal to the United States and that he will prove his not guilty.
Menendez has resisted calls from more than 30 Democrats for him to resign.
The rewritten indictment added a charge alleging that the senator, his wife and one of the businessmen conspired to have Menendez act as an agent of the Egyptian government and Egyptian officials.
As a member of Congress, Menéndez is prohibited from acting as an agent of a foreign government.
Menendez is accused of passing information to the Egyptians about the staff of the US embassy in Cairo, writing a ghost letter on behalf of Egypt intended to influence his fellow senators and urging the State Department to become more involved in international negotiations. to block a dam project that Egypt opposed, among other things.
Last week, Nadine Menéndez and businessman Wael Hana pleaded not guilty to the superseding indictment.
Both were accused of conspiring with the senator to use him as an agent of the Egyptian government and its officials. The charge carries a potential penalty of up to five years in prison.
2023-10-23 17:39:50
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