On the Senate floor Tuesday, Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) slammed the second superseding indictment against him and rejected the Qatari bribery allegations:
“I have received nothing, absolutely nothing, from the government of Qatar or on behalf of the government of Qatar to promote their image or their issues. The government's principal allegation of what I supposedly did for Qatar was to support a Senate resolution. This resolution was sponsored and introduced by Senator Graham and co-sponsored by eleven other bipartisan senators, posted on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee agenda, and passed by voice vote … I have criticized Qatar, as I have any other country, when I felt they were falling short of their international obligations, and applauded them when they have led in ways the United States and the world would commend. That give-and-take, that carrot-and-stick, that cajoling and rewarding, is the essence of diplomacy. It is a job we all partake in every day as part of our duties in the Senate.”
