GARWOOD, N.J. (AP) – U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez insisted Monday that he has done nothing wrong amid reports that he could be indicted on corruption charges as soon as this week.
“I’ll say the same thing I said two weeks ago when there was a different press report – and that is that I have always acted appropriately and legally,” Menendez said at a factory where he was touting new legislation aimed at hiring military veterans.
The New Jersey Democrat has been under investigation over his relationship with Florida ophthalmologist Salomon Melgen, a friend and political donor whose medical office was raided by state authorities two years ago.
A person familiar with the investigation told The Associated Press in early March that criminal charges were expected to be filed in the coming weeks. At a news conference then, Menendez expressed the same sentiments as he did Monday, saying he and Melgen are longtime friends who have “given each other birthday, holiday and wedding presents just as friends do.”
Menendez, a 23-year member of the House and Senate who chaired the Senate Foreign Relations Committee until Democrats lost control of the Senate, has been scrutinized for trips he took to the Dominican Republic on Melgen’s private plane. Menendez has acknowledged taking several actions that could have appeared to benefit Melgen, including contacting a Medicare agency to urge changes to a payment policy that had cost Melgen millions of dollars.