(Kitco News) – Recently convicted Senator Bob Menendez has delivered a letter to Democratic New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy announcing his intention to resign from the Senate on Aug. 20, an inside source told The New York Post on Tuesday.
On July 16, Menendez (D-NJ) was found guilty by a jury of accepting bribes – including cash, gold bars, and a luxury car – in exchange for political favors. It took the 12-member jury three days following the end of closing arguments to reach a verdict, convicting him on all 16 counts he faced.
Menendez, whose term expires at the end of the year, is the first sitting member of Congress to be convicted of acting as a foreign agent and is only the seventh sitting U.S. senator to be convicted of a federal crime. He now awaits his October 29 sentencing, where he faces the possibility of decades in prison.
The former Union City, New Jersey mayor – who has been in Congress since 1993 and became a Senator in 2006 – has thus far refused to step down despite numerous calls from senior colleagues within his own party to resign. This includes a statement from Democratic Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer, who tweeted, “In light of this guilty verdict, Senator Menendez must now do what is right for his constituents, the Senate, and our country, and resign.”
Menendez was defiant in the wake of his conviction last week, insisting that he would appeal the decision and shooting down any suggestion that he would step down.
“I can tell you that I have not resigned nor have I spoken to any so-called allies,” Menendez told CBS News the day after his conviction. “Seems to me that there is an effort to try to force me into a statement. Anyone who knows me knows that’s the worst way to achieve a goal with me.”
Anyone wondering about the best way to achieve a goal with the Senator has only to peruse the details of the federal indictment filed on Jan. 2, which contained an image of gold bars investigators seized from Menendez's home, as well as envelopes stuffed with cash, which they discovered inside jackets hanging in his closet. Prosecutors said more than $480,000 in cash was found in his home.
“This case has always been about shocking levels of corruption,” said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams after the guilty verdict was handed down. “Hundreds of thousands of dollars of bribes, including gold, cash, and a Mercedes-Benz. This wasn’t politics as usual; this was politics for profit.”
“Because Senator Menendez has now been found guilty, his years of selling his office to the highest bidder have finally come to an end,” Williams added. “Corruption isn’t costless: it erodes public trust, and it undermines the rule of law. That’s why we’re so committed to fighting it, regardless of political party.”
