Of course the old “I didn’t do it” defense. Update to previous Mendendez story.

Via WFB

The fugitive Ecuadorian bankers at the center of an alleged FBI probe of Sen. Robert Menendez (D., N.J.) deny that they traded campaign donations for political support from the senator.

Menendez reportedly sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security in 2012 lobbying against an Ecuadorian government extradition request for the two bankers, brothers William and Roberto Isaias Dassum, who were convicted of embezzlement in Ecuador and are living in Miami. The FBI is allegedly investigating whether political donations by the bankers’ family members were related to Menendez’s lobbying effort, WNBC New York first reported.

The Isaias brothers denied the allegations and said they are victims of an “aggressive and systematic campaign of persecution by [Ecuadorian president] Rafael Correa and his totalitarian regime,” in a statement to the Washington Free Beacon on Friday.

“The corruption, lack of fairness and due process in Ecuador’s judicial system is well documented and extends beyond us to prominent journalists, independent media outlets, and others that have been jailed, harassed, and punished,” they said.

“We know firsthand how democracy, human rights, freedom of the press, and due process has been trampled in Ecuador. This experience has led members of our family to exercise our democratic right to support elected officials in the U.S. from both parties that defend and promote these principles in the Western Hemisphere. Any donation made by any member of the Isaias family is driven by these values and have been made in a normal and legal manner in accordance with federal election laws,” they said.

Menendez’s office did not comment to the Free Beacon. He told reporters on Thursday that the charges were “ridiculous.”