That he has been accused of acting as a foreign agent for the Egyptian government while sitting as chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee is “outrageous,” Sen. Bob Menendez said in an interview Thursday with NJ Spotlight News.

“My parents came to this country in search of freedom. I have for fifty years in public service been loyal to only one nation, the United States of America. That’s what I have given my life’s work to and to improve the lives of people in this country and in our state,” New Jersey’s senior senator said.

Further, said Menendez, “I stood up to the president of Egypt in the presence of eight other United States senators and challenged him on human rights violations on political prisoners, on press freedom, on NGOs, and I’ve done that twice previously in the presence of our US ambassador with other staff present.”

Watch the complete interview here.