Sen. Bob Menendez’s (D-NJ) career in the Senate may finally be over after over a dozen of his fellow Democrat senators have now demanded his resignation.
The calls come after Menendez, who has a long history of corruption allegations, was hit with an indictment from the U.S. Justice Department last week for multiple federal bribery charges.
Calls have been mounting for Menendez to resign after the bombshell indictment was unsealed in federal court last Friday.
The indictment shows that federal investigators raided Menendez’s home and found huge sums of cash stuffed in envelopes as well as hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of gold bars.
The charges are related to overseas dealings with the government of Egypt.
Menendez is accused of selling sensitive U.S. government information to Egyptian officials.
Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) issued a statement on Tuesday calling for Menendez to step down in the wake of the charges.
“Stepping down is not an admission of guilt but an acknowledgment that holding public office often demands tremendous sacrifices at great personal cost,” Booker’s statement said.
“Senator Menendez has made these sacrifices in the past to serve.
“And in this case, he must do so again.
“I believe stepping down is best for those Senator Menendez has spent his life serving.”
As of Tuesday afternoon, 13 Senate Democrats have called for Menendez to resign.
The list of senators includes Democrat Sens. Bennett, Fetterman, Kelly, Booker, Brown, Welch, Baldwin, Tester, Casey, Klobuchar, Rosen, Heinrich, and Warren.
In addition to the dozen Senate Democrats, several members of the House have also called for Menendez to step down.
Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is among the House Democrats calling for Menendez to resign.
“It probably would be a good idea if he did resign,” Pelosi told MSNBC.
In a Monday press conference, Menendez struck a defiant tone.
He claimed that he expected to be exonerated of the charges.
The senator even claimed that his critics are motivated by racism, as Slay News reported.
“Those who believe in justice believe in innocence until proven guilty,” Menendez said.
“I intend to continue to fight for the people of New Jersey with the same success I’ve had for the past five decades.
“This is the same record of success these very same leaders have lauded all along.
“It is not lost on me how quickly some are rushing to judge a Latino and push him out of his seat,” he claimed.
“I am not going anywhere.”
The press conference at Hudson County Community College in Union City, New Jersey, marked the senator’s first public appearance since his federal indictment was unsealed in the Southern District of New York on Friday.
The indictment charges that Menendez, his wife, Nadine, and New Jersey businessmen Wael Hana, Jose Uribe, and Fred Daibes have been participating in a years-long bribery scheme.
Since 2018, as alleged by federal prosecutors, the three businessmen collectively paid hundreds of thousands of dollars of bribes — including cash, gold, a Mercedes-Benz, and other things of value.
The alleged bribes were in exchange for Menendez agreeing to use his power and influence to protect and enrich them and to benefit the government of Egypt.
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