Sen. Bob Menendez intends to resign from office and gave verbal confirmation to the governor’s office today, according to sources familiar with the situation, after he was convicted on 16 felony counts earlier this month in a federal courtroom in New York.
No official resignation letter had been received yet in Trenton, but sources said Menendez intended to send one as early as Tuesday afternoon with a resignation date of Aug. 20.
Menendez has been defiant since his criminal indictment was released last September, even after calls for his resignation reached a fever pitch in light of the conviction.
He said that he plans to appeal as he was leaving the courthouse and that he has “never been anything but a patriot of my country and for my country.”
As rumors circulated of his resignation less than a week ago, Menendez again pushed back.
"I can tell you that I have not resigned nor have I spoken to any so called allies ... 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," Menendez told CBS New York's Christine Sloan.
Calls for Bob Menendez to resign from NJ, national officials
After Menendez's conviction, Gov. Phil Murphy issued a statement calling on him to resign and took things a step further, and said that if the senator would not resign, the "U.S. Senate to vote to expel him."
It wasn’t just state officials speaking out against Menendez. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said that “Menendez must now do what is right for his constituents, the Senate, and our country, and resign” while Menendez’s Democratic New Jersey partner, Sen. Cory Booker, said he would lead the expulsion effort if it came to it.
Who will replace Bob Menendez in the U.S. Senate?
It’s up to Murphy to appoint someone to serve out the remaining months on Menendez’s current term. He said in a statement that in the event of a vacancy he would “exercise my duty to make a temporary appointment to ensure the people of New Jersey have the representation they deserve.”
Rep. Andy Kim, the Democrat on the ballot for the seat in November, has said that if asked to fill the seat, he would accept it.
But there have been calls from Republicans to appoint someone else to the seat. Former Govs. Tom Kean and Chris Christie issued a joint statement calling on Murphy to follow the “New Jersey tradition of letting the voters decide.”
“The voters should have a free choice in November, unencumbered by any political influence from the governor’s office,” the statement said. “Given recent events, we believe this is a New Jersey tradition which should be followed for the benefit of all New Jersey voters this November.”
Menendez found guilty
Menendez and his co-defendants businessmen Wael Hana and Fred Daibes, were also found guilty on a total of 18 counts. All three are scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 29.
The federal indictment against Menendez was first unsealed last September and was updated with superseding indictments three times — in October, January and March.
Menendez, his wife, Nadine Arslanian Menendez, and Hana, Daibes and Jose Uribe — were part of a bribery scheme where Menendez and his received, among other things, cash, gold bars and a luxury car in exchange for using his political influence.
The jury found Menendez used his “power and influence to protect, to enrich those businessmen and to benefit the government of Egypt ” even as Menendez was chair of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Nadine Arslanian's trial date is postponed indefinitely pending a court conference next month as she receives treatment for breast cancer.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez will resign from Senate on Aug. 20 after criminal conviction
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