Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) blasted the senators negotiating a border security package on Wednesday for not including any minority colleagues in their working group, arguing that Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) lacks credibility on this topic.
Menendez, who has been ostracized since being federally indicted earlier this fall, made the comments after being asked by reporters about his exclusion from this set of talks. The New Jersey senator, who is Hispanic, led the bipartisan immigration talks in the Senate that produced the 2013 deal that famously died in the House.
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“Well, it's not me. It’s that none of the Latino senators have been part of the talks, none,” Menendez said. “[Sen.] Mazie Hirono (D-HI), who's interested in this issue, has not been part of the talks. Those of us who represent immigrant communities have not been part of the talks. As a matter of fact, there's no Democrat that I know that represents a border state that has been involved in the talks.”
“So something is wrong with that process,” he continued. “That would be like if we were having civil rights or voting rights legislation and having none of the three African American senators be part of it.”
Pressed on if Murphy, one of the leaders in the talks, and the rest of the group had the credibility to negotiate on behalf of immigrant communities, Menendez replied: “I do not believe they do.”
Murphy has been Democrats’ lead negotiator on the latest border deal attempt, which Senate leadership aims to package together with supplemental aid bills for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. The talks have centered on possible changes to federal asylum policy and how the Biden administration uses the humanitarian parole authority. Those involved have struggled to reach a consensus on how to approach either.
Working alongside Murphy are Sens. Michael Bennet (D-CO), James Lankford (R-OK), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), and Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL). None in the group could be immediately reached by the Washington Examiner to respond to the criticism.
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Federal prosecutors have accused Menendez and his wife, Nadine, of illegally using the senator’s position as the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to peddle influence with donors and benefit the Egyptian government in exchange for cash, gold bars, and other valuables. In October, he was charged with operating as an unregistered foreign agent on behalf of Egypt.
Menendez, who was required to relinquish his Foreign Relations Committee chairmanship after the September indictment, has dismissed both sets of charges as part of a larger “smear campaign” against him. He has vowed to fight the charges and has pleaded not guilty in both cases.