El Salvador’s Bitcoin BTC/USD-supporting President Nayib Bukele reacted to the indictment of Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) on obstruction of justice charges.
What Happened: Menendez and his wife, Nadine Menendez have been now charged. This development comes on top of the senator’s existing bribery charges.
Bukele reacted to the indictment news on X, formerly Twitter, by posting a laughing emoji.
The new indictment was unsealed on Tuesday. This comes amidst increasing calls from within the Democratic party for Menendez to resign from Congress. The indictment follows the guilty plea of Jose Uribe, a defendant in the Menendez corruption case, to bribery and other charges. Uribe has agreed to cooperate fully with prosecutors, reported Axios.
In October, Menendez was charged with conspiring to act as a foreign agent for Egypt. Further allegations surfaced in January, accusing him of accepting bribes in exchange for aiding the Qatari government.
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Why It Matters: Interestingly, Menendez had also co-sponsored legislation to mitigate the risks of El Salvador's adoption of Bitcoin, according to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
It was under the leadership of Bukele that El Salvador became the first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender in June 2021.
Bukele has remained steadfast in his commitment to the apex cryptocurrency. He said in February that the country would not sell its Bitcoin holdings despite the significant appreciation in its worth.
On Tuesday, Bitcoin shot up to $69,170.63 — a fresh all-time new high. Since June 9, 2021, when El Salvador adopted Bitcoin to the coin’s fresh peak, it has run up a whopping 107%.
Meanwhile, Menendez and his wife maintain their innocence. The couple had previously requested separate trials due to concerns about spousal communications during cross-examination.
The charges against Menendez and his wife include allegations of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from three New Jersey businessmen, as well as the government of Egypt.
Photo by Gobierno Danilo Medina on Flickr
Price Action: Bitcoin traded nearly flat at $65,941.32 at the time of writing, according to Benzinga Pro data.
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