Extra Time: Senator Menendez indicted; deadly bus crash in Orange County
NEW JERSEY (WABC) -- In this edition of Eyewitness News Extra Time, we have the latest details on the indictment announced Friday against U.S. Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey.
As a result, New Jersey's top Democrats, including Governor Phil Murphy, are calling on the senator to resign.
Menendez is accused of taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes and that includes gold bars. Investigators found some of the money stuffed in jackets inside his home.
The senator and his wife are also accused of accepting a luxury vehicle.
Friday's indictment of Menendez also made history. The Democrat is now the first-ever sitting U.S. senator to be indicted twice, on unrelated bribery charges.
His first case happened in 2015 when U.S. attorneys in New Jersey levied charges.
At the time, prosecutors alleged he accepted more than $600,000 in political contributions from a prominent eye doctor. He was also accused of accepting a hotel suite in Paris and free rides on a private jet, all in exchange for political favors.
That trial ended two years later in 2017 with a deadlocked jury. In 2018, Menendez was acquitted, and all the remaining charges were dropped.
Here are the other major headlines from Friday's show:
Tropical Storm Ophelia gathers strength with heavy rain, wind
An AccuWeather Alert is in effect for storms this weekend. We will get heavy rain, high winds and rough surf. When will this all begin and when will we be in the clear? Meteorologist Lee Goldberg has an update on the forecast.
NTSB investigation begins in deadly crash after bus tumbled 50 feet
Investigators are looking into whether a blown front tire may have caused a charter bus to careen off a New York highway and tumble down an embankment Thursday, killing two adults and hurting dozens of others, officials said. The bus, carrying students from Farmingdale High School in Nassau County on Long Island, was headed to band camp in Greeley, Pennsylvania. Preliminary information indicated a blown left, front tire may have led the driver to lose control of the bus which rolled down the embankment, however NTSB Investigator John Humm said during a Friday afternoon briefing that it's "really premature" to say that it was the cause, but that it could have been a factor.
You can watch 'Eyewitness News Extra Time' live Monday-Friday at 6:30 p.m. on ABC7NY.com or our ABC7NY app on Roku, FireTV, Apple TV and Android TV.
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