Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) is set to resign from Congress after he was found guilty two weeks ago of accepting bribes, including $150,000 in gold bars from Egyptian officials and an $80,000 Mercedes-Benz, the New Jersey Globe reports.
Menendez was found guilty on 16 counts of bribery, conspiracy, extortion, obstruction of justice, wire fraud, conspiracy and acting as a foreign agent last week.
Sources close to Menendez told the outlet that he will step down on Aug. 20, and that he would release a letter on Tuesday announcing his resignation.
Interestingly, Menendez’s departure coincides with pay-day for senators as they are paid on the 5th and 20th of every month, Fox News reports.
His decision to step down comes a day after the Senate Ethics Committee announced it would be launching an investigation into Menendez’s alleged misconduct while he was chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Majority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) told a CNN reporter Tuesday that he would “defer to the ethics committee” on whether Menendez could still receive classified briefings or sit on the Foreign Relations Committee until his official resignation date in August.
The other half of New Jersey’s senate delegation, Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), called on Menendez to resign during an MSNBC interview, saying if he didn’t then he would start moves to expel him from Congress.
“He must stand up now and leave the Senate. He must do that. And if he refuses to do that, I will lead that effort to make sure that he’s removed from the Senate,” Booker said. “This is reprehensible behavior that he’s been convicted of… doing things for foreign governments that should chill a lot of folks for what he’s been convicted of.”
Senate Majority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Democratic New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and 31 other senators have also called on Menendez to resign.
Rep. Andy Kim (D-NJ), who is likely to succeed Menendez in the senate, has called on Menendez to resign repeatedly.
Menendez previously vowed to stay in the senate when he was charged in September.
“I called on Senator Menendez to step down when these charges were first made public, and now that he has been found guilty, I believe the only course of action for him is to resign his seat immediately. The people of New Jersey deserve better,” Kim wrote in a post on X following Menendez’s verdict.
“Senator Menendez has made the right decision for New Jersey by agreeing to step down next month. It’s time for New Jersey to move forward,” Rep. Kim’s office told the Daily Beast in a statement.
Menendez and his co-defendants will be sentenced on Oct. 29.
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