US Senator Bob Menendez resigns after corruption conviction

[July 24, 2024]  By Moira Warburton, Makini Brice and Richard Cowan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Senator Bob Menendez submitted his resignation on Tuesday in the aftermath of his conviction on corruption charges including bribery and acting as an agent for Egypt's government, bowing to pressure from fellow Democrats to give up the job.

"I will be resigning from my office as the United States Senator from New Jersey, effective on the close of business on Aug. 20, 2024," Menendez's letter, which was seen by Reuters, said.

"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," the letter added.

Democratic New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy will appoint a replacement for Menendez, who has represented New Jersey in the Senate since 2006 and served as chairman of the influential Foreign Relations Committee before giving up that post after being charged last year.

Murphy said in a statement he had received the letter but did not provide details on when he would finalize a decision for naming Menendez's temporary replacement. A spokesperson for Murphy did not reply to a request for details about the timing of the decision.

Menendez, 70, was found guilty on July 16 by a jury in Manhattan federal court on all 16 criminal counts he faced - also including obstruction of justice, wire fraud and extortion - after a nine-week trial. Two co-defendants also were convicted.

A message referring to the letter was read aloud on the Senate floor on Tuesday afternoon.

The case centered on what prosecutors called bribery schemes in which 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 of the businessmen, prosecutors said. Menendez plans to appeal.

U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein has set Menendez's sentencing for Oct. 29, a week before the Nov. 5 election in which he is running as an independent in a bid for another six-year term in the Senate, but is considered a long shot to win.

U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) looks on, following his bribery trial in connection with an alleged corrupt relationship with three New Jersey businessmen, in New York City, U.S., July 16, 2024. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

Menendez's resignation will temporarily reduce the Democratic majority in the Senate to 50-49 until Murphy's appointee is sworn in to finish what remains of Menendez's current six-year term, which ends in January. Democratic U.S. Representative Andy Kim is running for the seat in November and is favored to win in Democratic-leaning New Jersey.

Numerous Democrats had called for Menendez to resign, including Murphy, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and Cory Booker, New Jersey's other senator.

The trial was Menendez's second, after a 2017 trial ended when the jury could not reach a unanimous verdict. Menendez then was censured by the Senate ethics committee for accepting gifts from a wealthy longtime friend in exchange for official favors.

Menendez was first appointed to his Senate seat in 2006, after serving 13 years in the U.S. House of Representatives. He then won election three times to the Senate. He earlier served in the New Jersey legislature and as a mayor.

For decades he has been a forceful voice on American foreign relations, most recently advocating for additional aid to Ukraine and Israel as Democratic President Joe Biden pushed Congress to allocate more money to foreign allies embroiled in conflicts.

U.S. Representative Rob Menendez, the senator's son, continues to represent a New Jersey congressional district across the Hudson River from New York City, similar to the district his father previously represented.

(Reporting by Moira Warburton, Makini Brice, Richard Cowan and Jasper Ward; Editing by Will Dunham, Scott Malone and Daniel Wallis)

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