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♪ David: Hey, everybody.

Welcome to "Chat Box."

We have one guest today, Senator Bob Menendez.

The senator is facing a four count indictment on corruption charges, as well as conspiring to work as an agent for a foreign government.

This is the senator's first interview since the indictments were announced.

While the charges will be discussed, we are also looking to talk about some of the senator's other work in Washington as we face multiple crises in the Middle East, Europe, and elsewhere.

Senator, thanks for coming on with us.

Sen. Menendez: Good to be with you.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak with the people of New Jersey.

David: Let me ask the most obvious questions up front.

The U.S. attorneys as they found half a million dollars in cash around the house, stuffed in some cases in the pockets of your jackets, and gold bars seemingly strewn about.

I don't know many people who believe the explanation you gave about fears of having the cash confiscated.

How do you explain the gold bars and cash in pockets?

Why not have this stuff in a safe, for instance?

Sen. Menendez: Let me say, David, that first of all the government presented this in the most salacious way possible, sensational way possible, in order to have the desired effect that they have temporarily achieved.

The reality is that we presented information to the government on those issues and others that clearly explains a different rationale for its existence, which is something the government simply decided not to acknowledge and use.

So, while I can't get into every specific of the charges that the government has alleged because I need to be able to preserve that for my defense, this is an example of how in fact we did give the government information and how they chose not to use it, and how I look forward to both the process in motions and trial, if we get to a trial, that ultimately will show people in New Jersey what the truth really is.

David: It just sounds frantic.

Why not put the cash in a safe, for instance, and the gold bars in a safe in the home if the point is to safeguard it?

Sen. Menendez: Again, I can't get into the specifics.

But as I said, I have drawn from my personal credit Union savings account for the better part of 30 years $400 every week in cash.

And while that may seem old-fashioned and some people might think it is crazy, the government has those records.

They have the accounts that show that.

And they chose not to use it.

This is why I look forward to being in a position to actually speak to these issues so New Jerseyans will have a different set of facts than the ones they have right now.

David: Your wife is a codefendant in this.

You have separate attorneys.

Can you describe your relationship during the period that is in this indictment?

Were you partners in your political and other endeavors?

Sen. Menendez: We were husband and wife.

We are husband and wife.

I love her dearly.

And in fact we do what everybody else as a husband and wife do together.

That is the relationship we have had for the three years we have been married.

And I look forward to a long relationship with her.

David: Because the suggestion is that you were working together.

She was introducing you to the other codefendants in this case.

Did you know them before you met her?

Sen. Menendez: I knew some of them before her and others I did not.

David: I know you want to talk about the other crises facing the world, but look, you are not chair of foreign relations anymore.

You had to sit out a briefing on the Israeli-Hamas War.

Is it fair to say you have been sidelined by these legal issues you are facing?

Sen. Menendez: Absolutely not, and let me correct one thing.

I was not barred from going into an intelligence briefing.

I still have all of my intelligence credentials.

The reality is, after someone who has done foreign policy 31 years and who knows intimately the U.S.-Israel relationship and the challenges that Israel faces, particularly in the horrific actions of Hamas, I did not need to go to an intelligence briefing to tell me what we need to do to stand by Israel and at the same time help Palestinian people who are innocent.

I have often not gone to an intelligence briefing if I thought it would not be of value, because I often learn their what I already know in public, then I am barred of speaking about it.

That is not an unusual thing.

As it relates to being successful and engaged, I learned a long time that hard work produces results.

That is how I got $50 billion during Sandy recovery.

That is why I got nearly $10 billion for the state and county that Governor Murphy said was indispensable during.

-- was indispensable during the pandemic.

Colleagues have asked me to stand with them.

Senator Durbin asked me to join him with legislation in reference to protecting children from labor issues.

From Senator Booker.

He joined together with me and we came up with a remarkable historic recommendation for the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.

I am leading the way in a bipartisan bill with Republicans and Democrats to reduce the cost of prescription drugs for seniors so pharmacy benefit managers don't take the cost of prescription drugs to the highest cost drugs so they can make more money.

These are just some of the ways that I have continued to succeed and will continue to succeed because there is much work to be done on behalf of the people of New Jersey, and I have not missed a beat.

I have been here for votes and for hearings and pursuing the issues important to the people of New Jersey.

David: We will get into more of that in a minute.

Getting back to the indictment.

Is it accurate to say you were having financial difficulties in the period before you met your wife?

Sen. Menendez: That I was having financial difficulties?

No.

I'm sorry, no, not at all.

First of all, I live a pretty simple life.

And I have lived off of my salary and Social Security and a small state pension I had from years ago.

I have never had financial difficulties.

Great credit ratings.

Here is an example of how things get misdirected.

I understand why people in New Jersey are angry, disappointed.

I have had a lot of conversations with New Jerseyans since this happened, and I get it.

I understand.

It is painful.

The easiest thing for me to do would be to resign, and then I would not have to go through all of the negativity.

I would not have to go.Through all of the press I would not have to go through the disapproval of others.

But that is not me.

I don't do the easiest thing.

The reality is that I am innocent.

If I just may, I am innocent and I am going to prove it.

In our system of justice, which many of my colleagues eloquently give speeches about, the fundamental element of our system of justice is the presumption of innocence.

And so, I don't ask for anything more than any other citizen.

But I don't deserve anything less than any other citizen.

And when the facts are fully known, I trust New Jerseyans to be able to see through what has happened so far and to see what the truth is.

David: Almost all the members of your party in the state here and several colleagues in the Senate have suggested that you resign.

I have seen you beat the odds before, but you have been in this business for a long time.

Winning a primary, even if these charges go away, is going to be near impossible.

Don't you serve your party and your state better by resigning now?

Sen. Menendez: No.

On the contrary.

If I had taken the same course of action previously, then all the good work that I have done for Sandy recovery, the good work I did during the pandemic, the billions I brought to the state that Governor Murphy spoke about was indispensable to the state in that period of time, all the work I have done on lowering the cost of prescription drugs, and so much more would not have been accomplished.

As I said, that would be the easy way out.

As it relates to a primary, I trust the people of New Jersey.

I have trusted them for nearly 50 years and they have never disappointed me, and I am going to work hard not to disappoint them.

David: This is probably the worst time for someone like you whose portfolio includes international issues to be sidelined.

You say you are not sidelined.

How are you getting back into the conversation?

And what would you have to say, for instance, about what is happening now in Palestine and Israel?

Sen. Menendez: Very much in the conversation.

We had a hearing and a vote for the new U.S. ambassador to Israel, which is an important position at a critical moment to work with Israel, our ally, on these issues.

I just spoke before I came on your program to a large several hundred group of Iranians as it pertains to what is happening in Iran.

I still serve on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which gives me a perch on all these global issues.

And I am pursuing them in the same way as I did before.

The difference is that I am not leading the committee but I am very much active in the committee in pursuing the things that I care about for New Jerseyans, which is how do we create a world that is more peaceful and prosperous?

How do we ensure that Ukraine wins not only for its own freedom, but to stop the march of Putin against other countries where we would have to send our sons and daughters abroad?

I don't want to see that happen.

And how do we ultimately help Israel undermine Iran's proxies like Hamas so they can live safely and secure and we don't have a wider war?

David: Is it fair to ask for a cease-fire in the region right now?

Sen. Menendez: I think the United States has got it right when it pursued the United Nations.

Temporary opportunities for humanitarian efforts to be able to take place.

I know the administration is working vigorously to make that happen.

David: Let's talk about Egypt and the indictment related to your role with the government there.

On one hand, you had tough rhetoric on Egypt regarding human rights, etc.

But on the other hand, you greenlighted arms sales and other considerations in exchange for what prosecutors say was money, gold, and a Mercedes-Benz for your wife.

Was this constituent services or acting as an agent of a foreign government?

Sen. Menendez: well, first of all, this particular charge is outrageous as it is absurd.

My parents came to this country in search of freedom.

I have for 50 years in public service been in service to only one nation, the United States of America.

That is what I have given my life too, improving the lives of people in our state.

The reality is, it is more than rhetoric that I conducted in regards to Egypt.

I stood up to the president of Egypt in the presence of eight other United States senators and challenged him on human rights violations, on political prisoners, on press freedom, on NGOs, and I have done that twice, previously in the presence of our U.S.

Ambassador with other staff present.

Each time, I have done directly face-to-face to the president of Egypt what no other member has done, and the administrations, both Republicans and Democrats, have used both carrots and sticks with Egypt as it does with other countries.

When it wants to induce that country to act a certain way, it may give it some assistance.

When that country is doing something wrong like violating you and rights it -- violating rights, it may use sticks.

But the ultimate decision-maker as it relates to Egypt or any other country in the world is whatever the administration is.

Yes, we have an impact on that, but my impact has been clear and unequivocal and has not inured to the benefit of Egypt when it has not benefited correctly.

That is crystal clear.

This is among the most outrageous of the charges, and it goes and flies in the face of a long history, a long history of opposing human rights violations, rule of law, independent journalists, and others inside of Egypt.

David: The considerations that Egypt received, including getting a green light from your committee, the quid pro quo, as it were.

Was Egypt behaving better in exchange for arms sales and other considerations?

Sen. Menendez: Each consideration depended upon the nature of the sale, whether it was for example defensive equipment, whether it was equipment for the cyanide where they are playing a vital role for security with Israel, which everybody, Democrats and Republicans, have called for.

These have followed the traditional uses of both foreign aid and arms sales as a way to ensure that the U.S. national security interest was pursued.

And that is simply the case.

David: In the case of one of your co-defendants receiving a contract to certify -- Sen. Menendez: I cannot answer for my codefendant.

You will have to ask him.

David: The suggestion was your relationship with Egypt officials helped ease the way for him to get that contract.

Sen. Menendez: David, there is a lot of suggestions.

As a matter of fact, as I read the indictment, there's a lot of inferences, but not a lot of facts at the end of the day.

Those inferences try to play and create a storyline that is the most negative, pejorative storyline you can create.

But when those get challenged by the facts, as we will in the legal proceedings that both motions and trials will allow us to do, then we will see a totally different story.

David: So, a terrible mass shooting in Maine this week.

You posted that assault weapons must be banned, and you blamed Republicans.

How are they to blame for the actions of one guy in Maine?

Sen. Menendez: I didn't blame the actions of Republicans on the one guy in Maine.

What I said is if we banned assault weapons, as I voted for the ban when I was in the House of Representatives which unfortunately expired, we would not have instruments of mass killing, which is why I also have legislation to ban high-capacity magazines.

You don't need 50 or 100 round to go hunting.

50 and 100 in a magazine for an arm's ultimately for a high-capacity killing.

We can observe Second Amendment rights but at the same time not permit weapons of murder to be able to take place.

And we have not had the support of Republicans in order to get an assault weapons ban in with high-capacity magazines.

With that respect, New Jerseyans have to judge.

Do you want unlimited controls to assault style weapons that are really weapons meant for high-capacity killing, high-capacity magazines, or do you want to see reasonable gun safety measures that can create greater protection and reduce the dramatic opportunities for what we just saw in Maine?

David: As we were preparing for today, I was taken back to the day your last trial ended.

The allegations now are that you have accepted bribes and started skimming with co-defendants almost immediately after that.

I was there outside the courthouse.

I remember you choked up when you spoke to your children, who were with you that day as well.

What do you say to them today?

Sen. Menendez: I say to them what I am saying to every other New Jerseyans, that I am innocent, that I will prove my innocence, that the government has chosen to present facts that are the most salacious in order to poison the well before we even get to a trial.

They know who I am.

And most New Jerseyans who I have had a relationship with know who I am.

They know that I am the senator that fights for the little guy.

I am the senator that got people back home after Sandy, when insurance companies were lowballing them.

I am the senator that went to work to keep our hospitals open during the pandemic, a once in a century pandemic that caused the death of so many of our people.

I am the senator who has continuously worked to lower the cost of prescription drugs, because I saw my own mother who faced the challenges of dealing with Alzheimer's and living on a retirement, Social Security income only, and what it meant for her in terms of the cost of prescription drugs.

David: But also, Senator, as we said, not your first time facing corruption charges.

You referred to the people of New Jersey.

We have talked to a lot of them over the past month and we hear words like "arrogant," "greedy."

Those are all out there describing you.

What do you want the people of New Jersey to think about you to change their minds about those descriptions?

Sen. Menendez: I don't know who shares those descriptions with you, but the bottom line is we have worked -- I think when people are reminded of our successes on their behalf that we will see a change.

When they see the truth, when all the facts can be presented, they will see the truth of what has taken place here.

The last thing that I think anybody would say is that I am arrogant.

I have always maintained a common touch.

I still go back to my roots.

I am amongst people all the time.

That is what I spent my whole life doing.

Had I decided to go into a private practice, I could have made a small fortune.

That is not what I have done.

I have dedicated my entire adult life to public service.

It is a high calling.

It is one I hold incredibly dear.

And I have acted that way.

Finally, let me just say, you talk about the past.

The past where the government board charges against me.

11 of 12 jurors did not believe any part of the government's case.

David:David: But you have to admit, it was a different case entirely.

Sen. Menendez: It doesn't matter.

You said it was about corruption, right?

11 of 12 jurors.

And the judge ruled that some of the most significant charges, he dismissed them because he said -- his words, not mine -- there was no there there.

Let's look at the flipside.

When you talk about you were charged, they didn't talk about the results.

The results are that when 11 of 12 jurors don't believe in anything the government said, and when the judge knocks out the most significant charges and says there was no there there, maybe the charges never should have been brought in the first place.

David: Your friends in the press also reported the results of that trial accurately, I should say.

We talked about you resigning, which you reiterated today you will not do.

But have you given any thought over this period to saying after this term ends this is it for me?

Sen. Menendez: No.

I am focused, number one, on proving my innocence so that New Jerseyans will know that these charges are false.

Secondly, I am continuing to do the work that I have done every day for the last several years and that I have done over the last month since these charges were presented.

I am speaking to you from Washington as we speak here in this interview, and we are working on the things critically important to New Jerseyans.

There is more work to be done, and I would look forward to continuing to do that work.

David: Are you concerned you have broken the bond of trust with people of New Jersey?

Sen. Menendez: I understand how people can be concerned, how people can be upset, how some are disappointed.

I have had these conversations.

I have had these conversations.

But I think when the people of New Jersey see me exonerated and see what the government did here, then I think at the end of the day that bond will be reestablished because I will be able to remind them in the midst of all the negativity that exists now, which is why polling doesn't mean very much when you have a month of negative news stories without the reality of the other set of facts, people are going to remember -- I still have people come up to me and say, you saved me in my home.

I have people who come up to me and say, you've got my relative in so there could be a transplant and that saved my child's life.

This is what I. have done for A lifetime.If you ask all those people, including those who were there with me the day after these indictments were put forward, they represented that cross-section of New Jerseyans.

They know who I am.

They know I have fought for them.

And to get the opportunity to remind people of that and show them the truth, I think we will be in a position to continue to serve.

David: Staying right where he has.

The trial is set for May of next year.

Senator Bob Menendez, appreciate you coming out with us.

Sen. Menendez: Good to be with you, David.

Thank you.

David: that is t "Chat Box" this week.

You can follow us on x. I am David Cruise.

Thanks for watching.

We will see you next time.

Announcer: Major funding for "Chat Box with David Cruz" is provided by the members of the New Jersey education Association, making public schools great for every child.

Promotional support is provided by Insider NJ, a political intelligence network dedicated to New Jersey political news.

Insider NJ is committed to giving serious political players an interactive forum for ideas, discussion, and insight.

Online at insiderNJ.com.

♪