
Following his conviction on federal corruption charges, Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., informed allies that he would be leaving Congress, according to two people with firsthand knowledge of the conversations, as reported by NBC News.
After the guilty decision and mounting threats to have him expelled if he continued to refuse, Menendez, who had been steadfast for months in the face of requests for his resignation from hundreds of Senate Democrats, seemed to have finally given in. According to these sources, he is phoning supporters to inform them of his plan to step down, capping a three-decade career in Congress that included two criminal prosecutions due to charges of corruption, drafting significant legislation, and chairing a prominent committee.
Democratic senator from New Jersey and Menendez’s friend, Cory Booker, was among those who pushed for his resignation, along with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill.
Following the guilty decision in Menendez’s most recent corruption trial, Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer issued a statement saying, “It is now imperative that Senator Menendez step down in the best interests of his constituents, the Senate, and our nation.”
Menendez did not answer queries seeking comment. He did not resign yet, he told CBS New York after this item was published, “nor have I spoken to any so-called allies.”
On Tuesday, Menendez was found guilty on 16 federal counts pertaining to his alleged use of his official position to enrich three businesspeople in New Jersey and further the interests of the governments of Qatar and Egypt. According to the prosecution, he and his spouse were compensated for a low- or non-existent work, receiving “Money, gold bars, mortgage payments, a fancy car, and other valuable things” in exchange. Gov. Phil Murphy of New Jersey, one of the first Democrats to call for Menendez’s resignation, will nominate a senator to serve out his term, which expires in January, should he decide to step aside.
Menendez’s Senate seat is up for grab in the general election in November between Republican Curtis Bashaw and Democratic Representative Andy Kim. Menendez declared he would carry on with his campaign in the event of his exoneration when he filed as an independent to seek for the seat.
Menendez’s political career began when he was elected mayor of Union City in the middle of the 1980s, almost forty years ago. In the end, he spent 13 years in the House prior to being elected to the Senate in 2006. He served as the Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman for two terms before resigning from the position due to an indictment last year. Despite being accused of misusing his position to the advantage of foreign nations, he continued to cast votes in both the panel and the Senate as a whole.
As per the initial accusation against him, Menendez and his spouse, Nadine, were accused in September of conspiring to commit bribery, honest services fraud, and extortion under color of official right.
A few weeks later, he was accused of plotting to function as a foreign agent and taking bribes from a foreign government in a superseding indictment. According to the accusation, Menendez “gave vital information to the US government and conducted other covert actions to support the Egyptian government.”
In a statement, Menendez refuted the accusations, claiming that prosecutors had “misrepresented the normal work of a Congressional office” and that he was the target of “an active smear campaign.” After that, he declared he would challenge his conviction.
He stated in public in September that the $480,000 in cash that investigators discovered buried in packets all around his home was money he had saved for “emergencies” over a period of decades.
Menendez was also charged with federal corruption in 2015 after it was alleged that he accepted travel, lodging, and campaign contributions as favors from a wealthy Florida optometrist. The jury was unable to reach a unanimous decision, and the case resulted in a mistrial. In 2018, when the trial judge dismissed several of the first counts, prosecutors decided not to retry Menendez.
According to information gathered by the Senate Historical Office, Menendez is the only senator in U.S. history to be indicted on two unrelated criminal charges while in office.
Menendez, a senior senator from the Senate who supported reforming the immigration system, is the son of Cuban immigrants. In 2013, he co-authored the “Gang of 8” bill, a bipartisan immigration reform that was approved by the Senate but failed in the House. Amidst continued concerns about the amount of migrant crossings along the southern border, he offered a framework last year to overhaul immigration systems, which included providing new avenues to citizenship.
Menendez may also be affected by the unanimous passage of the No CORRUPTION Act last year in the Senate, which was authored by Senators Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) and would prevent members of Congress convicted of felonies from receiving pensions. The House would still have to approve the proposal.
Democrats see a chance to create a divide among voters by opposing Menendez and projecting a negative image of the party in the same week that the GOP announces Donald Trump’s presidential candidacy.
Senator Gary Peters, D-Mich., the head of the Democratic Senate campaign arm, said in a statement that Senator Menendez “has damaged the confidence of the people and is unable to continue serving in the U.S. Senate.” “If he doesn’t want to step down right away, I hope this doesn’t come to this, but if it does, I’m in favor of the Senate taking action to remove him from office.”