The chief White House spokesman denied having any knowledge of the criminal charges that are reportedly being brought against New Jersey lawmaker Bob Menendez on Monday and used the lack of awareness as proof positive that the alleged investigation is a form of political payback. 'I cant speak to the accuracy of those claims,' the president's spokesman, Josh Earnest, said when asked about a news report claiming that federal prosecutors are  preparing to bring criminal corruption charges against the Democratic senator. And just because its been reported in the press, well, 'that's not proof of them being a fact,' he said. 'I don't know if there's a Menendez investigation.' 'If there is a criminal investigation on the way, it is one that had been done wholly separate and apart from any sort of political interference,' he stated. THE SENATOR: Sen. Bob Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, may soon face criminal charges related to alleged corruption . POLITICS: (l-r) Menendez, donor Salomon Melgen, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, and her husband Paul, posed in February 2012 at a National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials gala . CNN reported on Friday that a grand jury probe that has lasted two years was reaching a crescendo, and prosecutors, under pressure to complete their work before the statute of limitations runs out, would soon bring charges against Menendez that stem from his relationship with Florida eye doctor Salomon Melgen, a wealthy and prolific donor. The senator's aides admitted in 2013 that he had intervened a year earlier with the acting chief of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on his friend's behalf, pushing back against accusations of overbilling the Medicare system by $8.9 million. Menendez has also repaid Melgen $58,500 for the value of plane trips he took on the doctor's private jet, mostly to the posh Dominican Republic resot Casa de Campo. The senator has fiercely denied he has done anything illegal, and one of his conservative colleagues in the Senate, Ted Cruz, has suggested the investigation is politically motivated. Menendez told reporters on Friday, I have 'always conducted myself appropriately and in accordance with the law. 'I am not going anywhere,' he promised. Tricia Enright, Menendez's communications director, told Daily Mail Online in a statement that 'the facts will ultimately confirm' that his behavior was in no way improper. 'The Senator has counted Dr. Melgen as one of his closest personal friends for decades,' Enright said. 'The two have spent holidays together and have gone to each other’s family funerals and weddings and have exchanged personal gifts.' She called the investigation's beginnings 'suspect,' referring to 'false allegations' that have been 'discredited' in the past. 'The timing seems awfully coincidental,' Cruz said of the probe on Saturday while speaking to reporters. 'The very week when Bob Menendez showed incredible courage to speak out and call out President Obama for the damage that his policy was doing to our national security,' is the same week reports that he'll be charged came out. That's 'troubling,' Cruz said. Menendez, 61, has seen pressure from the Obama administration over his positions on Cuba and Iran. Speaking to reporters on Saturday after an appearance at the Iowa Ag Summit, Cruz said the timing of the charges 'seems awfully coincidental.' COY: Asked Monday about the alleged probe, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said, 'I don't know if there's a Menendez investigation' The same week Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 'came to Washington, spoke in Congress about the enormous threat of President Obama's misguided deal with Iran,' he said, and 'the very week when Bob Menendez showed incredible courage to speak out and call out President Obama for the damage that his policy was doing to our national security,' is the same week reports that he'll be charged came out. That's 'troubling,' the Texas lawmaker said. South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham made a similar observation at Saturday's event, according to CNN. 'They leaked a story about an impending indictment right after the [American Israeli Public Affairs Committee] conference, right after Bob Menendez said, to his great credit, stood up and said I want to look at any deal you with Iran,' Graham charged. 'As to Bob Menendez, like every other American, he's innocent until proven otherwise. He's a friend. But this whole behavior around the Obama administration regarding the law is very disturbing.' Attorney General Eric Holder, according to the network, has already given his approval. But he insisted 'I can't comment on that' when a reporter asked him about the report Friday afternoon after Obama gave a speech in South Carolina. Asked Monday about the alleged investigation, Earnest said, 'We don't know whether or not they're true.' 'I'm not going to comment on them for that reason.' 'The other reason I'm loathe to comment on this is that there is a principle this administration takes very seriously,' and that is 'ensuring that prosecutions are kept separate and apart from political interference or even the appearance of political interference.' 'That undermines the claims of a lot of people, including apparently Sen. Cruz,' he stated. Menendez's first high-level meeting at HHS related to Melgen's Medicare troubles occurred on June 7, 2012, according to court documents seen by the New Jersey Law Journal. The government alleges that the senator and some of his staffers met with Marilyn Tavenner, who was then in charge of the agency's Medicare and Medicaid subagency. Court papers also indicate Menendez followup up the meeting with a phone call, and then took Nevada Sen. Harry Reid, who was then the Senate Majority Leader, to an August 2, 2012 meeting with the Department of Health and Human Services's then-secretary, Kathleen Sebelius. CNN reported that Melgen was one of the Medicare system's most-reimbursed doctors nationwide, during the years when he was also a major donor to Menendez and to the Majority PAC. That political action committee, run by former Reid staffers, collected more than $700,000 from Melgen and made sure $600,000 of it benefited Menendez’s re-election campaign. Meanwhile, the conservative activist group American Commitment has called on Menendez to resign his office. On a new website called ByeBob.com, the group claims he 'unethically, and likely criminally, compromised his ability to represent the people of New Jersey.' The senator, now the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and its chairman until two months ago, has become a thorn in the White House's side by taking positions that grate on President Obama. Menendez opposed the president's rapprochement with Cuban strongman Raul Castro, saying in December that his actions 'have vindicated the brutal behavior of the Cuban government.' He has stood in the way of the State Department's negotiations with Iran, threatening to lead Congress in imposing new sanctions on the Islamic Republic if it doesn't shelve its nuclear ambitions. The White House has insisted the Iranians can be trusted to keep their end of any bargain. 'I have to be honest with you,' Menendez said during a January 21 Capitol Hill hearing. 'The more I hear from the administration and its quotes, the more it sounds like talking points that come straight out of Tehran.' While he is not among the senate's super-rich elites, the New Jersey legislator will likely have the capital on hand to fight the charges: His legal defense fund has already collected, and spent, more than $1 million. Last week two of his Senate aides tried to avoid testifying before the federal grand jury in the case, arguing that the senator's actions, and theirs, are protected by the U.S. Constitution's 'Speech or Debate' clause. Those words in America's founding document shield federal lawmakers and their offices from executive branch scrutiny, including Justice Department investigations, while they are actively working on legislation. THE DOCTOR: Salomon Melgen, a wealthy Florida ophthalmologist and a major Menendez donor, was ordered to pay back Medicare for $8.9 million in overbillings, and Menendez intervened with HHS for him . SEARCH WARRANT: A January 30 raid of Melgen's medical practice yielded van-loads of boxes containing medical and billing records and computer files . According to the New Jersey Law Journal, aide Michael Barnard refused to answer 50 questions about Menendez's conversations with Sebelius and Tavenner, and also declined to talk to the grand jury about contact between the senator's office and Melgen's lawyer-lobbyist about those conversations. Another more senior aide, former Menendez chief counsel Kerri Talbot, reportedly refused to testify about a separate matter. The grand jury wanted to know if Talbot had emailed a staffer at U.S. Customs and Border Protection to ask the agency to stop donating used port-screening equipment – principally cargo-container x-ray machines – to the Dominican Republic. Melgen, the senator's donor, controlled a company that offered similar equipment and wanted a contract proposal with the island nation to go through. The x-ray machines are used by customs and port security officials to screen cargo for narcotics and other contraband. NARCO-POLITICS: Dr. Melgen controlled a company that wanted a Dominican ports contract to sell x-ray equipment used to screen cargo containers for drugs. Menendez allegedly helped ensure the U.S. wouldn't provide the machines for free . In 2013 FBI agents and investigators from HHS raided Melgen's West Palm Beach, Florida medical office, Vitreo-Retinal Consultants. Over a period of nearly 24 hours, then executed search warrants and came out with dozens of boxes containing what news reports later described as medical and billing records and computer files. The Washington Post reported at the time that HHS auditors had raised red flags over the large number of eye surgeries and laser treatments Melgen's practice billed to Medicare. Other news reports described an alleged scheme in which Melgen used leftover fluid from single-use injection vials to treat two or three additional patients, billing Medicare for a new vial with each treatment. The government typically paid $2,000 for each container, raising the possibility that Melgen could have overbilled Medicare between $4,000 and $6,000 per vial.
New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez will  be charged soon, news report said . Federal grand jury has been probing whether he traded political donations from eye doctor Salomon Melgen for improper government favors . Menendez spokeswoman says doctor has been 'one of his closest friends for decades' and insists everything he did was lawful . 'I am not going anywhere,' the Democratic senator said Friday . His aides refused to testify before a federal grand jury about conversations their boss had with HHS officials and a lawyer engaged to lobby for Melgen . Attorney General Eric Holder has allegedly given his approval for charges; But on Friday he insisted 'I can't comment on that'
The White House's chief spokesman said Monday he 'can't speak to the accuracy' of the claims that charges are pending . 'If there is a criminal investigation on the way, it is one that had been done wholly separate and apart from any sort of political interference'
GOP Sen. Ted Cruz suggested Friday the probe was political payback .