Menendez: Government trying to convict me in ‘court of public opinion’

Menendez: Government trying to convict me in ‘court of public opinion’

Sen. Bob Menendez addressed the multiple indictments against him in a Tuesday floor speech, claiming the government has conspired against him to poison public opinion and a potential jury pool.

Menendez (D-N.J.) has maintained his innocence in all of the indictments against him, the latest of which alleges he acted as a foreign agent on behalf of Qatar. While the majority of the Senate Democratic Caucus has called on Menendez to step down, he has refused and instead left the door open to a reelection bid.

“Why did the government not proceed with all of these accusations from the beginning? The answer is clear to me,” Menendez said. “By filing three indictments — one in late September, a second one a few weeks later in mid-October and a third one last week in early January — it allows the government to keep the sensational story in the press and seeks to convict me in the court of public opinion.”

Menendez also forecasted his case will go to trial, saying there is “no evidence of the giving or receiving of cash or gold bars” and that there will “be at trial a full explanation of what is the truth about those issues.”

The New Jersey Democrat claimed proving his innocence is a matter of precedent-setting in the Senate, noting the allegations against him have “never ever been levied against a sitting members of Congress — never — and for good reason.”

“It opens a dangerous door for the Justice Department to take the normal engagement of members of Congress with a foreign government and to transform those engagements into a charge of being a foreign agent,” Menendez said.

While Menendez has been politically shirked by many of his colleagues, he has continued to weigh in on certain policy subjects, including the latest border negotiations. He has not giving any timing for when he will decide whether or not to run for reelection. Multiple primary challengers have already come out against him, including Rep. Andy Kim and New Jersey first lady Tammy Murphy.

“I’m innocent and I intend to prove my innocence,” Menendez said.