Sen. Bob Menendez and wife indicted on bribery charges; DOJ seizes gold bars and $500,000

Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez and his wife are facing corruption-related charges. An unsealed federal indictment reveals the New Jersey senator and his wife, Nadine Arslanian Menendez, are accused of accepting “hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes” in exchange for the senator’s influence. Prosecutors allege the bribes included cash, gold, mortgage payments and a Mercedes. Menendez says he will “not be distracted by baseless allegations” and he’s pushing back on calls for his resignation from some fellow Democrats. Former Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe tells AC360 he thinks the senator will have a hard time defending himself against this indictment because of the extraordinary detail prosecutors included. Plus, there’s a hurricane watch in effect for parts of eastern North Carolina ahead of Tropical Storm Ophelia’s landfall. CNN Meteorologist Chad Myers joins AC360 for an update on the storm that’s expected to trek up the East Coast.  To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices