Menendez pleads not guilty to corruption

Sen. Robert Menendez on Thursday pleaded not guilty to 14 federal charges of corruption.

The New Jersey Democrat, who was indicted on Wednesday, will have to turn over his passport, according to multiple reports.

The charges against him include conspiracy to commit bribery and honest services fraud, in connection with his relationship with Salomon Melgen, a Florida ophthalmologist and political donor. Melgen has also been charged.

{mosads}”We will finally have an opportunity to respond, on the record, in court, with the facts,” Menendez said in a press conference after entering his plea. “These allegations are false, and I am confident they will be proven false.” 

The Justice Department alleges Melgen bribed Menendez with gifts and donations to his legal defense fund set up to pay for legal fees associated with federal and congressional ethics investigations. 

The 68-page indictment charges that Menendez hid many of those gifts and did not report any that he received between 2007 and 2012.

Ahead of his court appearance, the senator released a video to supporters pledging to fight the Justice Department’s accusations. 

“Today is not how my career is going to end because I have always, always, conducted myself in accordance with the law,” he said in the video, while acknowledging that “today is a difficult day.” 

Menendez slammed the Justice Department during the video, saying that the justice system has “already failed at its most basic level by leaking information and peddling rumors.” 

The New Jersey Democrat said he has stood against corruption his entire career. 

“I started in public service fighting corruption in government,” he said. “I testified against some pretty powerful people. I had to wear a bulletproof vest and receive a death threats.”

Helping defend Menendez is Abbe Lowell, an attorney well versed in Washington scandals.

Lowell was House Democrats’ chief minority investigative counsel during then-President Clinton’s impeachment. He also defended lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who pleaded guilty to charges of fraud and corruption in 2006. 

Menendez’s attorney hit back at the Justice Department Thursday saying its investigation stems from “false and salacious allegations.”

“This investigation started with false and salacious allegations made by political and other opponents of Senator Menendez,” Lowell said in a statement. “It was fueled by heavy-handed actions of agents pressuring witnesses; and then it had more than its fair share of improper leaks to the press.”

He added that he’s asked the Justice Department to “investigate this misconduct,” and he hopes “they do so with as much vigor and as many resources” as the investigation into Menendez.

Lowell suggested that prosecutors were at a disadvantage after writing a “secret, one-sided presentation in the Grand Jury.”

“Prosecutors get to write the indictment they want, after a secret, one-sided presentation in a Grand Jury. But they do not get those advantages now,” he said. “Now, they have to make good on those charges. Now they have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a 20 year friendship between Senator Menendez and Dr. Melgen was something else.”

Menendez is the first sitting senator since Ted Stevens to be indicted. Charges against the former Alaska official were eventually dismissed because of prosecutorial misconduct.

Lowell tied the two cases together, suggesting that the charges against Menendez were the latest example that “prosecutors in the Justice Department often get it wrong.”

The pressure on Menendez intensified on Thursday with the New York Times calling for the senator to step down.

Democrats have largely rallied around Menendez in the wake of the charges, but the scandal has already led to the New Jersey lawmaker temporarily stepping down as ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

The controversy also threatening to spill over to Democrats that received campaign donations from Menendez. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) is giving back money that her campaign received from the senator, his PAC, and Melgen. 

National Republican Senatorial Committee spokesman Matt Connelly called on Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) “to return the $10,000 donation he received from his indicted friend Senator Robert Menendez.”

This story was updated at 4:22 p.m.