Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) said on Jan. 9 he got “absolutely nothing” from Qatar.
“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,” he said on the Senate floor.
“The government’s principal allegation of what I supposedly did for Qatar was to support a Senate resolution.”
The resolution, noted Mr. Menendez, thanked Qatar for helping evacuate Americans and Afghan refugees during the 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan following the almost 20-year war there.
“The suggestion that an introduction of a constituent to a Qatari investment company is illegal is not only wrong as a matter of law, it is dangerous to the important work all of us as senators do,” claimed Mr. Menendez.
“Under the government’s theory, it may be a crime for members of the Senate to make introductions to companies and constituents in their own state to foster investment in their state,” he added.
Nonetheless, he called out Qatar’s record of exploitative labor in building World Cup stadiums and its alliance with Iran.
Overall, Mr. Menendez railed against the indictments, accusing him of bribery.
‘A Persecution’
He said what the Department of Justice is doing is “a persecution” as opposed to a prosecution.Mr. Menendez’s speech on the Senate floor comes exactly a week after he was hit with a superseding indictment alleging that Mr. Menendez, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where he was chairman until his initial indictment in September, “used his influence and power” and violated his duty in order to introduce businessman developer Fred Daibes to a potential Qatari investor.
The indictment does not make clear how Qatar benefited from the deal.
Mr. Menendez got 2022 Formula One Grand Prix tickets and other gifts from Qatar, according to the indictment.
He has been hit with conspiracy and bribery charges.
Mr. Menendez’s previous indictment alleges that the senator and his wife, Nadine Menendez, took bribes from three supporters—Mr. Daibes, Wael Hana, and Jose Uribe—in exchange for favorable treatment surrounding the government of Egypt, whose human rights record, like Qatar’s, has come under fire. The gifts included gold bars, home mortgage payments, and a fancy car, it says.
Mr. Menendez also allegedly pressured the New Jersey attorney general’s office related to a prosecution against Mr. Uribe, who pleaded guilty in 2011 to a charge of third-degree theft by deception and was sentenced to three years probation.
Additionally, Mr. Menendez allegedly promised to ask then-President Donald Trump to appoint a U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey to interfere in the prosecution of Mr. Daibes on fraud and other financial-related charges. He pleaded guilty to the charges in 2018 but withdrew the plea, and his trial has been postponed.
The last time the senator was indicted was in 2015, but the trial resulted in a hung jury, and prosecutors declined to bring up the case again.
Mr. Menendez has resisted calls to resign and has said he will “continue to fight for the people of New Jersey with the same success I’ve had for the past five decades” and that people “are rushing to judge a Latino and push him out of his seat.”
Mr. Menendez, who has not decided whether to run for reelection in November, has prominent Democrat primary opponents—including New Jersey First Lady Tammy Murphy and Rep. Andy Kim (D-N.J.)—were he to run.
