U.S. Senator Bob Menendez on trial in gold bar bribery case

we have an update on an unusual political scandal in the US Democratic senator Bob Menendez is on trial for corruption in a case that has plenty of headline grabbing details the cbc's Richard Madden has the story the corruption trial of one of America's most powerful Senators continues in a Manhattan courtroom Federal prosecutors accuse Bob Menendez a Democrat from New Jersey of abusing his power as chair of the Senate's influential Foreign Relations Committee by taking extravagant bribes Cash Gold Bars a Mercedes convertible and other gifts in exchange to help a New Jersey man lock down a lucrative multi-million dollar deal with the Egyptian government and by accepting payoffs to steer more US military aid to help Egypt now these charges stem from an FBI rate at his home last fall where authorities found 13 gold bars and nearly half a million dollars in cash stitched inside a suit jackets a safe and in a pair of shoes now at the time Menendez says he withdrew that money from the bank over three decades and claimed he's innocent I have withdrawn thousands of dollars in cash from my personal savings account which I have kept for emergencies and because of the history of my family facing confiscation in Cuba but the trial also revealed some unexpected plot twists through his lawyers Menendez blamed his wife nine who's being tried separately of deceiving him and accusing her of hiding those gold bars in her closet without his knowledge and insisting she took the bribes not him Menendez then revealed another bombshell saying naen has breast cancer which could delay her trial now as this case continues other Senators who long served with Menendez are expected to be called up to the witness stand to testify against him now Menendez is still a senator he's refused to resign but has since been ousted by his own party but the Fallout continues his son Robert a house Democrat in a safe district is now being challenged for the nomination all suggesting the Menendez name that long carried political clout in New Jersey now appears to be a political liability Richard Madden CBC News Washington

Channel: CBC News

Views: 2,548

Keywords: cbc, cbc news, U.S. Democratic Senator Bob Menendez, New Jersey, bribes of cash, gold bars, luxury car, bribery case, on trial

Id: PcF7teTUJVI

Length: 2min 12sec (132 seconds)

Published: Fri May 17 2024