A slew of senior Democrats demanded the resignation of US senator Bob Menendez on Tuesday after the New Jersey politico’s conviction on all counts following a nine-week federal corruption trial in New York City.
A jury found the 70-year-old former chair of the Senate foreign relations committee guilty of 16 charges, including accepting bribes of cash, gold and a luxury car from three New Jersey businessmen, and acting as an overseas agent for Egypt.
Shortly after the verdicts were read, the Democratic Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, and Menendez’s fellow New Jersey senator Cory Booker, urged him to stand down.
“In light of this guilty verdict, Senator Menendez must now do what is right for his constituents, the Senate and our country, and resign,” Schumer said in a statement.
In a post on Twitter/X, Booker – also a Democrat – called the conviction “a dark, painful day for the people of New Jersey”.
Alluding to how he had previously demanded Menendez’s resignation, Booker said: “I originally did so last fall because of the severity of the allegations against him and how they shook the public’s trust. Now, with this conviction, the urgency for Senator Menendez to step down and for the governor to appoint a replacement has even more urgency.”
The conviction confirms the remarkable downfall of a politician who once was one of the most powerful and influential Democrats in the US. Federal district court judge Sidney Stein set a sentencing hearing for 29 October, at which Menendez faces up to 222 years in prison.
Reporters in the courtroom said Menendez shook his head at the jury as the verdicts were announced, then clasped his hands in front of his face while leaning with his elbows on the defense table.
According to the Associated Press, Menendez and his lawyers promised to appeal as they were leaving the courtroom.
“I have never been anything but a patriot of my country and for my country,” Menendez said. “I have never, ever been a foreign agent.”
Other leading Democrats echoed Schumer’s calls for Menendez to resign. The New Jersey governor Phil Murphy said in a statement he had been convicted of “brazen crimes”.
“If he refuses to vacate his office, I call on the US Senate to vote to expel him,” Murphy said. “I will exercise my duty to make a temporary appointment to ensure the people of New Jersey have the representation they deserve.”
Andy Kim, a New Jersey congressman chosen as the Democratic candidate for Menendez’s Senate seat in November after the incumbent said he would run as an independent, was equally scathing.
“This is a sad and somber day for New Jersey and our country,” he said in a statement. “Our public servants should work for the people, and today we saw the people judge Senator Menendez as guilty and unfit to serve.
“I believe the only course of action for him is to resign his seat immediately. The people of New Jersey deserve better.”
Prosecutors said that Menendez abused the power of his office to protect allies from criminal investigations and enrich associates, including his wife, through acts that included meeting with Egyptian intelligence officials and helping that country access millions of dollars in US military aid.
Menendez did not testify but insisted publicly he was only doing his job as the chairman of the foreign relations committee. He said 13 gold bars found in his New Jersey home during a 2022 raid by the FBI belonged to his wife, along with $500,000 in cash stuffed into jackets, a closet and safe.
The conviction comes four months before election day and potentially dooms any hope Menendez had of campaigning for re-election as an independent candidate.
The senator was on trial with New Jersey businessmen Wael Hana and Fred Daibes, who were also convicted of all the charges they faced. All three pleaded not guilty.
Another businessman pleaded guilty before trial and testified against Menendez and the other defendants.
Menendez’s wife, Nadine, was also charged, although Stein announced Tuesday that her trial had been postponed indefinitely. Menendez said in May she was being treated for advanced stage breast cancer.
The 2022 raid on the Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, home where Menendez lived with his wife, ended with FBI agents confiscating gold bars worth nearly $150,000, and cash stuffed into boots and jackets emblazoned with the senator’s name.
During closing arguments last week, lawyers spent more than 15 hours urging jurors to carefully study the evidence.
Prosecutors cited numerous instances when they said Menendez helped the businessmen. And they argued that his efforts to speed $99m in helicopter ammunition to Egypt, along with cozy communications with top Egyptian officials, showed he was serving Egypt’s interests as an agent.
Lawyers for Menendez insisted the senator never accepted bribes and that actions he took to benefit the businessmen were the kinds of tasks expected of a public official. They said he was simply carrying out foreign responsibilities expected in his role as senate foreign relations chairman, a post he was forced to relinquish after charges were brought.
Menendez filed in June for re-election as an independent candidate but announced he would continue to support the Democratic party if he won. It was unclear on Tuesday if he would continue his campaign.
Congressman Ruben Gallego, who is running for a US senate seat in Arizona, joined calls for Menendez to resign.
“Given today’s guilty verdict, it is clear that Senator Bob Menendez must do what is right and resign. His constituents and this country both deserve better,” Gallego said in a statement.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
Source: US Politics - theguardian.com
