Last Tuesday, New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez announced that he would be resigning from his position. This announcement came after Menendez’s conviction in a bribery scheme, and immense pressure from Democratic colleagues encouraging him to step down.
According to Reuters.com, “the senator and his wife Nadine Menendez accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, gold bars and car and mortgage payments from three businessmen. In exchange, Menendez steered billions of dollars in U.S. aid to Egypt and tried to influence the criminal prosecutions of two businessmen.”
Robert Menendez’s resignation was made official in a letter to Governor Phil Murphy. “While I fully intend to appeal the jury’s verdict, all the way and including to the Supreme Court, I do not want the Senate to be involved in a lengthy process that will detract from its important work,” Menendez wrote in his letter.
Despite being found guilty on all 16 criminal counts that he faced, he has continuously claimed he is innocent and, as he mentioned, will attempt to appeal the guilty verdict. He went as far as to tell reporters, “I have every faith that the law and the facts did not sustain that decision and that we will be successful upon appeal”.
Sidney Stein, the district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, has set the sentencing for October 29th, 2024. Menendez could face years in jail.
Menendez is also up for reelection in November, and his sentencing date is just a week prior. It is still unclear if this resignation will prevent him from running. Andrew Kim (Democrat) and Curtis Bashaw (Republican) would become the favorites if Menendez (Independent) does not choose to or is unable to run.
