According to a Monday press conference held by Democratic Senator Robert Menendez, he claimed that he had kept gold and cash worth hundreds of thousands in his home due to Cuban property confiscations.

Menendez was charged with bribery and fraud for allegedly accepting money from three businessmen to influence U.S. policy in favor of Egypt. Menendez, in a Monday press conference, defended himself and said that the gold and money found in his house were taken from his savings. He also explained that they were kept because of a Cuban history of confiscating property.

He said that he had been withdrawing thousands of dollars from his savings account for 30 years. “I have done this to cover contingencies, and also because my family has a history of being confiscated in Cuba,” he explained. “These were moneys taken from my personal savings”.

Menendez, born in the United States, has lived there his entire life. The DNA of one of the envelopes containing the money matched that of Fred Diabes who is a co-defendant and allegedly served as a conduit to bribes using Egyptian money.

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Menendez stated: “Those who have rushed into judgment have done so on the basis of a limited set facts that were presented by the prosecutors the most salaciously possible.” “The court is not a substitute for the justice system. I will be exonerated, and so will New Jersey’s senior Senator.”

Menendez claimed that he had the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty by a court. He said: “I deserve nothing less and I ask nothing more.” He also called on his critics to “pause” and “allow all the facts to come out.”

Menendez stated that, in response to the allegations made in the indictment regarding his actions in favor of Egypt, he tried to hold Egypt responsible for alleged violations of human rights during his tenure. Indictment: Menendez allegedly leaked information to Egypt’s government about the U.S. Embassy at Cairo and ghost-wrote a letter for Egypt to send to his Senate peers to convince them to withdraw their objections to U.S. Military Aid to Egypt.

He said, “I have stood steadfastly by the side of Egypt’s civil society and its human rights advocates.” “My record has been clear and consistent when it comes to holding Egypt accountable for the unjust detentions and other actions of American citizens, and others… and efforts which have eroded its independence.”

Menendez claimed he also confronted Egypt’s president Abdel Fatah el Sisi about U.S. Military Aid to the country. In 2019, I met El-Sisi in the MSC. I emphasized that the level of repression in Egypt was affecting our security and the purchase of a Russian rocket system. I put holds on four funding for military sales to Egypt.

Menendez didn’t say if he would run for reelection in 2024 to a fourth-term, but he did reiterate his refusal to quit his seat. Some of those calling for my resignation claim that I have lost trust. He said, “They couldn’t possibly be more wrong.” Before saying he would return this week to Washington, D.C., to resume his duties as a member of the chamber.

Menendez didn’t immediately respond to a comment request from the Daily Caller News Foundation.