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New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez plead not guilty for his recent indictment where he was accused of being involved in a bribery scandal.
Menendez, who is up for reelection next year, plead not guilty to charges of taking bribes Wednesday September 27. Menendez said, “Those who believe in justice believe in innocence until proven guilty. I intend to continue to fight for the people of New Jersey with the same success I’ve had for the past five decades.” He said he is ready to continue his job and not let the public get to him.
Menendez surprised the media when he and his wife, Nadine Menendez, were allegedly caught participating in bribery that could have possibly been going on for years. According to authorities, three New Jersey businessmen bribed Menendez with hundreds of thousands of dollars to help benefit the Egyptian government by using his official position.
Some things Menendez was allegedly bribed with were gold, cash, a convertible, and payments towards their home mortgage. All of this went on for a while before they were caught. Finally in 2022, the FBI searched the Menendez home where they found all this evidence indicating that they may be involved in bribery. There was cash found hidden in clothing, safes, and envelopes. Nadine had $70,000 hidden in her safe deposit box. There was over $100,000 worth of gold bars found hidden by Menendez.
The businessmen were identified as Wael Hana, Jose Uribe, and Fred Daibes who grew a relationship with Menendez and his wife. Bob’s wife introduced him to her long time friend Hana. Hana was born in Egypt and has connections there which is where their bribery began. Hana introduced Menendez and his wife to Uribe and Daibes who were the other two businessmen involved in the bribery.
Bob Menendez may have risked his position and breached the rules that came with it to be involved in bribery with three businessmen. This might have a bigger effect on people than you would think. We asked student Dean Qira if he knew anything about the Bob Menendez scandal. Dean said, “I was pretty disappointed that someone representing New Jersey and that we trust would do something like that.” This scandal has had major impacts on the public recently and many people have lost trust in Menendez.
