Bob Menendez blames bribery charges on ‘forces behind the scenes’ trying to ‘dig my political grave’

Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) dismissed an indictment accusing him of public corruption as being filled with “baseless allegations” in a defiant statement Friday that attributed the charges to a “smear campaign” against him.
Prosecutors in the Southern District of New York announced that Menendez would be charged with bribery after an investigation uncovered alleged instances of illegal influence-peddling. In the indictment, the senior senator of New Jersey is accused of benefiting the government of Egypt from his perch as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in exchange for cash, gold bars, and other items of value.
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He overcame corruption charges in 2018 when a hung jury could not agree on whether to convict him, but a series of news stories teasing a new set of charges has hung over Menendez for months.
“For years, forces behind the scenes have repeatedly attempted to silence my voice and dig my political grave,” he said in a statement. “Since this investigation was leaked nearly a year ago, there has been an active smear campaign of anonymous sources and inn …