NJ Governor calls on Senator Menendez to resign following indictment
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00:00 in bribery scheme.
00:01 The Democrat is accused of taking
00:03 hundreds of thousands of dollars
00:05 in bribes, including gold bars.
00:07 Some of the money found stuffed in
00:09 jackets inside of his home.
00:11 The senator and his wife are accused
00:13 of accepting a luxury vehicle.
00:15 Iowa News reporter Darla Miles is live
00:17 in Englewood Cliffs to begin our coverage.
00:19 Darla.
00:21 Sade, Governor Phil Murphy just
00:23 released a statement just a few minutes
00:25 ago calling for Senator Bob
00:27 Brennan Menendez to resign.
00:29 Now this is the first time we're
00:31 seeing Democrats break ranks on
00:33 this issue, but the allegations
00:35 against Governor Menendez right
00:37 now have global implications
00:39 involving these three local businessmen.
00:41 Governor Murphy says the national
00:43 security implications of the
00:45 accusation that Senator Bob Menendez
00:47 used his influence to help the
00:49 Egyptian military are deeply
00:51 disturbing.
00:53 You see here are three kilograms
00:55 of gold. Federal investigators
00:57 say 22 one ounce gold
00:59 bars and nearly a half a million
01:01 dollars in cash were seized
01:03 from the New Jersey home of Senator
01:05 Bob Menendez in June of 2022.
01:07 Alleged bribery payments
01:09 from Fred Davies, his business
01:11 partner while Hana and Jose
01:13 Uribe in a scheme that started
01:15 back in 2018. According
01:17 to the indictment, his wife, Nadine
01:19 and Uribe arranged meetings between
01:21 her husband and Egyptian military
01:23 officials looking to get millions
01:25 in USAID released that was
01:27 being withheld due to human rights
01:29 concerns. They say Menendez sent
01:31 this text to his wife. Tell
01:33 Will I'm going to sign off on this
01:35 sale to Egypt today. 46,000
01:37 120 millimeter target
01:39 practice rounds and 10,000
01:41 rounds of tank ammunition.
01:43 $99 million. The senator
01:45 agreed to do these things and use his
01:47 power in this way because Hana was
01:49 paying bribes because Uribe
01:51 was paying bribes and because Davies
01:53 was paying bribes. Prosecutors
01:55 say Hana was able to get the exclusive
01:57 global rights to certify halal meat
01:59 from Egypt and the windfall from
02:01 that was used to pay off Menendez.
02:03 Hi, Darla Miles from Channel
02:05 seven. We're looking for Mr Hana, but the
02:07 senior New Jersey senator vehemently
02:09 denying the allegations today, saying
02:11 the excesses of these prosecutors
02:13 is apparent. They have misrepresented
02:15 the normal work of a congressional
02:17 office. On top of that, not
02:19 content with making false claims against
02:21 me, they have attacked my wife
02:23 for the longstanding friendships she had
02:25 before she and I even met.
02:27 I would bet even before we did any
02:29 sort of polling that we would see public opinion
02:31 would simply not be on his side.
02:33 Again, as we're speaking, we
02:38 are getting more statements from
02:40 Democratic leaders here in the state of New
02:42 Jersey asking for the
02:44 resignation of Senator Bob Menendez
02:46 in light of these allegations.
02:48 Speaker Coughlin also
02:50 calling him to resign
02:52 and Democratic State Committee
02:54 Chairman LaFroy Jones
02:56 are also calling for him to resign. These
02:58 are again very serious allegations.
03:00 An attorney for Nadine Mendes says
03:02 she is innocent
03:04 and that she will vigorously
03:06 defend herself against these charges
03:08 and an attorney for while Hannah
03:10 said they are reviewing the
03:12 indictment and they say the claims
03:14 have absolutely no merit. Reporting
03:16 live in front of the home of Senator Bob
03:18 Menendez in Inglewood Cliffs, Darla
03:20 Miles, Channel 7 Eyewitness News.
03:22 Darla, thank you.
03:24 And looking into more the history of
03:26 Senator Menendez, who is now making
03:28 history himself as the first ever
03:30 sitting U.S. Senator to be indicted twice
03:32 on unrelated bribery charges.
03:34 His first case happened in 2015
03:36 when U.S. attorneys in New Jersey
03:38 levied charges. At the time,
03:40 prosecutors alleged he accepted more
03:42 than $600,000 in
03:44 political contributions from a prominent
03:46 eye doctor. He was also
03:48 accused of accepting a hotel suite
03:50 in Paris and free rides on a private
03:52 jet, all in exchange for
03:54 political favors. That trial
03:56 ended two years later in 2017
03:58 with a deadlocked jury.
04:00 In 2018, Menendez was acquitted
04:02 and all the remaining charges
04:04 were dropped. Again, the Senator is
04:06 expected in court next week.
04:08 And stay with Eyewitness News and ABC News for the latest
04:10 on the investigation.
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