White Home press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre weighed in on the federal bribery fees towards Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., on Monday, saying it was a “critical matter” however declined to name for his resignation.
Jean-Pierre made the feedback in response to questions from reporters at Monday’s White Home press briefing. A number of distinguished Democrats have already referred to as on Menendez to resign, although he disregarded these calls in a Monday press convention.
“Now that [Menendez] has mentioned that he’s not going anyplace, and on condition that President Biden is the chief of the Democratic Get together, does the president imagine that an individual going through allegations which might be as critical because the allegations which might be confronting the senator – that there’s anywhere for somebody like Sen. Menendez within the Democratic Get together?”
“So I will be very clear, this can be a critical matter. We see this as a critical matter,” Jean-Pierre responded. “We imagine that the senator stepping down from his chairmanship was the best factor to do, clearly.”
DEMOCRATIC SEN. BOB MENENDEZ FACING INDICTMENT ON BRIBERY CHARGES
White Home press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre weighed in on the federal bribery fees towards Sen. Bob Menendez on Monday, saying it was a “critical matter,” however declining to name for his resignation. (Drew Angerer/Getty Pictures)
“Because it pertains to anything, any determination he has to make, that is definitely gonna be as much as him and the Senate management to determine, however in fact, we see this as a critical matter. I am simply gonna depart it there for now,” she added.
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Menendez appeared earlier than the press on Monday, insisting that the a whole bunch of hundreds of {dollars} in money the FBI discovered at his residence was withdrawn from his private financial savings account.
In June 2022, the FBI executed a search warrant at Menendez and his spouse’s New Jersey residence, the place federal brokers discovered lots of the fruits of the alleged bribery scheme, together with money, gold, a luxurious convertible, and residential furnishings. Prosecutors say $480,000 in money, a lot of it stuffed into envelopes and hidden in clothes, closets and a protected, was found within the residence, in addition to over $70,000 in money in Nadine’s protected deposit field. Among the envelopes contained the fingerprints and/or DNA of New Jersey businessman Fred Daibes or his driver, in line with the indictment.
Menendez has employed lawyer Abbe Lowell to signify him within the case, the identical protection lawyer Hunter Biden is utilizing in his federal gun crime cost. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Name, Inc through Getty Pictures)
Menendez has employed lawyer Abbe Lowell to signify him within the case, the identical protection lawyer Hunter Biden is utilizing in his federal gun crime cost.
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“The allegations leveled towards me are simply that, allegations,” Menendez mentioned. “For anybody who has recognized me all through my 50 years of public service, they know I’ve all the time fought for what is correct. My advocacy has all the time been grounded. And what I discovered from rising up because the son of Cuban refugees, particularly my mother, my hero, Evangelina Menendez, every little thing I completed, I labored for regardless of the naysayers and everybody who has underestimated me.”
President Biden arrives to board Air Pressure One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, on Aug. 15, 2023. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP through Getty Pictures)
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“I firmly imagine that when all of the details are introduced, not solely will I be exonerated, however I nonetheless will probably be New Jersey’s senior senator,” he added. “The courtroom of public opinion is not any substitute for our revered justice system. We can’t put aside the presumption of innocence for political expediency when the hurt is irrevocable.”
Menendez has additionally tried to play the race card on Friday, condemning “how rapidly some are speeding to evaluate a Latino and push him out of his seat.”
Fox Information’ Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.
