'View' host suggests Sen. Menendez's wife was mastermind behind alleged corruption: 'Not the Bob I know'

"The View" co-host Ana Navarro defended her friend Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., on Friday, claiming that the allegations of his corruption and bribery schemes while in office don't sound like him.

"This is not the Bob I know," Navarro said, also suggesting that the lawmaker’s wife, Nadine Menendez, may have been the instigator behind his alleged crimes.

Menendez has been federally charged with acting as a foreign agent and accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars of bribes in the form of cash, gold bars and a Mercedes-Benz to benefit the Egyptian government through his power and influence as a U.S. senator.

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He has also been accused of accepting bribes and gifts in exchange for helping Qatar as part of a yearslong corruption scheme from 2021 through 2023.

According to newly unsealed court documents pertaining to his upcoming federal trial, Menendez is expected to blame his wife as a defense strategy, introducing evidence to show he was unaware of the allegedly illegal activities.

Navarro appeared sympathetic to this defense. She cited their friendship to say she couldn’t view him as someone who would do these things, though she seemed suspicious of his wife. Still, she admitted she might be biased.

"I’ve known Bob Menendez for almost 30 years. I’ve worked with him on countless issues, Cuba, Nicaragua, immigration, Central America and free trade. This Menendez that I read about here just does not jive, does not square away with the man I’ve known for all of this time," she said.

"I went to him with 100 issues with very rich clients. He never ever did anything like this," she added. "And I will say this — and I don’t excuse him, I