Sen. Bob Menendez, D-New Jersey, was indicted last week on accusations of bribery and corruption, prompting more than a dozen Senate Democrats, including his close friend and fellow senator from New Jersey, Cory Booker, to demand his resignation.
I’ve collaborated with Senator Menendez in the Senate for almost ten years. As the junior senator from New Jersey, I imagine that I have worked with him more often than most, and I have seen his extraordinary work and unflagging work ethic, Booker said in a statement before calling the accusations against him “shocking” and containing “specific, disturbing details of wrongdoing.”
Sen. Menendez adamantly maintains his innocence, therefore it is logical that he would think resigning would be blatantly unfair. But I think this is a mistake,” he added, adding that it would be best for the people whom Senator Menendez had spent his life trying to help if he resigned.
One of the 19 Democratic senators who publicly called for Menendez to resign is Booker. Several senators, including Menendez and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, are up for re-election in 2024. These senators are Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Jon Tester of Montana, Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Jacky Rosen of Nevada, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, and Bob Casey of Pennsylvania.
Since he has so far refused to quit, Klobuchar told NBC News that she has also called for a Senate ethics investigation to start right away, distinct from the ongoing criminal prosecution.
Tester, Brown, Baldwin, Rosen, and Casey are among the individuals running for re-election in 2018, and they will all be facing tough races in places that could decide the outcome of the election.
Both Arizona’s Mark Kelly and Georgia’s Raphael Warnock, who prevailed in challenging Senate campaigns last year, called for Menendez to resign. Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan, who is in charge of the Senate Democrats’ political operation, called on Menendez to step down as well, claiming that the “serious nature” of the accusations “undermined the public’s faith.”
Menendez begged his coworkers for time on Monday while defending himself in front of the public.
Tuesday, Rosen released a statement in which he said that Menendez’s accusations are “well-documented” and “a breach of the public trust.”
Although he has a right to due process and a fair trial, Rosen said that this is a diversion from the bipartisan work that has to be done in the Senate for the sake of the American people.
The allegations against their longstanding colleague were deemed “deeply disturbing” & “deeply troubling,” respectively, by Tester and Baldwin.
Although Sen. Menendez has the right to a fair trial and the opportunity to defend himself, Baldwin argued that the senator’s resignation would be in the best interests of his constituency, the American people, and national security.
In exchange for using his influence to help three New Jersey companies and the Egyptian government, the indictment alleges that Menendez and his wife, Nadine, collected “hundreds of thousands of dollars” in bribes.
Investigators discovered $480,000 in cash around his residence, according to the prosecution, part of it stashed in packets that “contained the fingerprints and/or DNA” of one of the individuals accused of bribing him or that person’s driver. They added that Menendez and his wife were given “over $100,000 worth of gold bars,” along with a luxury automobile, fitness gear, and home decor.
Both Menendez and his wife have said they did nothing wrong. In his remarks on Monday, he claimed ownership of the money and revealed that for decades, he had been taking out large sums of money from his savings account in case of “emergencies.”
Menendez said in his remarks, during which he also predicted he’d be exonerated of the charges against him and “still will be New Jersey’s senior senator,” “All I humbly ask for in this moment is in my colleagues in Congress, the elected leaders as well as the advocates of New Jersey whom I have worked with for years, and each person who calls New Jersey home, is to pause in and allow for all the facts to be presented.”
Sen. John Fetterman, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, was the first of his colleagues to request his resignation on Saturday. On Tuesday, Casey, the senior senator from the state, joined him.
“Serving the public is a holy trust. According to the precise charges included in the federal indictment, Senator Menendez consistently betrayed that trust, Casey stated.
Numerous local leaders, including as Governor Phil Murphy, and Democrats in the House, such as former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., have called for Menendez to quit.
Over the weekend, Rep. Andy Kim, D-N.J., said that he will run against Menendez for the position.
According to Joe Calvello, a spokesman for Fetterman, the first-term senator from Pennsylvania would be repaying the $5,000 Menendez provided to his 2022 campaign “in envelopes stuffed with $100 bills.”