NEW JERSEY (WABC) — In this episode of Eyewitness News Overtime, we get the latest details on the indictment announced Friday against New Jersey U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez.
As a result, top New Jersey Democrats, including Gov. Phil Murphy, have called on the senator to resign.
Menendez is accused of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes, including gold bullion. Investigators found some money hidden in a jacket at his home.
The senator and his wife were also accused of accepting a luxury car.
Friday’s indictment against Menendez also made history. The Democrat is now the first sitting U.S. senator to be indicted twice on unrelated bribery charges.
His first case occurred in 2015, when the U.S. attorney in New Jersey filed charges.
At the time, prosecutors accused him of accepting more than $600,000 in political donations from a prominent ophthalmologist. He is also accused of accepting Paris hotel suites and free flights on private jets, all in exchange for political favors.
The trial ended two years later in 2017 with a deadlocked jury. In 2018, Menendez was acquitted and all remaining charges dropped.
Here are the other major headlines from Friday’s show:
Tropical Storm Ophelia gains strength with heavy rain, strong winds
AccuWeather Alerts are in effect this weekend. We will experience heavy rain, strong winds and rough seas. When does this all start and when do we get out of this? Meteorologist Lee Goldberg updated the forecast.
NTSB opens investigation into fatal crash after bus rolled 50 feet
Investigators are looking into whether a front tire blew out, causing a chartered vehicle to veer off a New York highway and roll down an embankment Thursday, killing two adults and injuring dozens of others, officials said. The bus was carrying students from Farmingdale High School in Nassau County, Long Island, to band camp in Greeley, Pennsylvania. Preliminary information suggests that a blown front left tire may have caused the driver to lose control of the bus as it rolled down an embankment, but National Transportation Safety Board investigator John Humm said at a news conference Friday afternoon that it was “too early to say” that was the cause. It’s too early,” but that could be a factor.
You can watch Eyewitness News Overtime live Monday through Friday at 6:30 p.m. on ABC7NY.com or the ABC7NY app on Roku, FireTV, Apple TV and Android TV.
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