Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) addressed the slew of recent bribery charges against him on the Senate floor Tuesday and claimed that the “government’s tactics” against him will harm not just him, but his “colleagues, the political establishment, and most importantly, the electorate of New Jersey”:
“By filing three indictments — one in late September, a second one a few weeks later in mid-October, and a third one just last week in early January — it allows the government to keep the sensational story in the press, it poisons the jury pool, and it seeks to convict me in the court of public opinion. In so doing, the government's tactics harm not just me, but each of you, my colleagues, the political establishment, and most importantly, the electorate of New Jersey. The sensationalized allegations are now creating a rising call for my resignation, despite my innocence, and before a single piece of evidence has even been introduced in a court of law. The United States Attorney's Office is engaged not in a prosecution, but a persecution. They seek a victory, not justice.”
