Despite increasing demand from both Washington & his home state that he quit, Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., is making it clear that he will not.
Following his indictment on Friday on corruption allegations in New York City, some House Democrats & New Jersey Democratic Party leaders, included the governor, have called for the senator’s resignation.
However, Menendez declared on Friday night that he had no plans to resign from his position and that he would carry on representing his state despite the accusations.
Menendez stated in a statement that “those who believe in justice trust in innocence until proven guilty.” “I’m not leaving here,”
Menendez responded to the allegations in a previous statement by claiming that the indictment was full of untrue allegations and that it was a product of an ongoing political smear effort using “anonymous sources & innuendos to create an air of wrongdoing where none exists.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Friday that Menendez would leave his position on the Foreign Relations Committee. He said: “Senator Menendez has correctly opted to temporarily resign from his position as Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee until the problem has been settled.
The accusations came as a result of a federal investigation into allegations that Menendez accepted expensive gifts and substantial sums of money in bribes in exchange for engaging in corrupt activities, including giving sensitive information to the Egyptian government.
The federal court in Manhattan unveiled the 39-page indictment. The indictment names Menendez, 69, and his wife Nadine, 56, and includes three counts against each of them. Additionally named and charged with two offenses each are Wael Hana, Joseph Uribe, and real estate developer Fred Daibes.
At Wednesday’s 10:30 a.m. hearing, all five are anticipated to show up in federal court in Manhattan. The Southern District of New York’s US attorney, Damian Williams, warned that the investigation is still ongoing and that additional charges may be filed. The change occurred nearly six years after Menendez was convicted for separate allegations of corruption, a trial that resulted in a deadlocked jury.
The indictment charges Menendez and his wife with engaging in “a corrupt connection to three New Jersey associates and businessmen” (Hana, Uribe, and Daibes) and accepting “hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in exchange for using” the senator’s influence and authority over a years-long relationship.
The indictment asserts that the Menendez couple accepted bribes that included money, gold bars, payments toward a mortgage, reimbursement for a low- or no-show job, a luxury vehicle, and other valuable items. Prosecutors claim they found more than $480,000 in cash, most of it put into envelopes concealed inside jackets bearing Menendez’s name, during a search of the couple’s house, along with six high-value gold bars.
The senator claimed on Friday that the prosecution “misrepresented the regular duties of a Congressional office.”
They have targeted my wife for the lifelong friendships she had prior to her and I even met, on top of making false charges against me, he continued.
“Those driving this campaign simply cannot comprehend how a first-generation Latino American from disadvantaged circumstances could grow to become a U.S. Senator and carry out his or her duties with honor and distinction. And to make matters worse, they view me as standing in the way of their larger political objectives.