Numerous Democrat Senators called on Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) to resign on Tuesday after the 69-year-old senator was indicted on federal corruption charges last week.
New Jersey’s other Democrat senator, Cory Booker, said that Menendez needed to step down because the allegations he is facing “are of such a nature that the faith and trust of New Jerseyans as well as those he must work with in order to be effective have been shaken to the core.”
“Stepping down is not an admission of guilt but an acknowledgment that holding public office often demands tremendous sacrifices at great personal cost,” Booker added. “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.”
Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) urged Menendez to resign given “the serious nature of these charges and how they have undermined the public’s faith” in him.
The first two Democrat senators to call on Menendez to resign were Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH).
Socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) also called on Menendez to resign, writing: “Sen. Menendez should resign. If he doesn’t, a Senate Ethics Committee investigation must go forward immediately.”
Other Democrat senators that called for Menendez to resign included: Robert P. Casey Jr. (D-PA), Peter Welch (D-VT), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Jon Tester (D-MT), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Michael F. Bennet (D-CO), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Mazie Hirono (D-HI) and Raphael G. Warnock (D-GA).
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The federal indictment against Menendez and his wife was unsealed on Friday and accused the senator and his wife of accepting bribes from three business people in exchange for actions that he took as chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee. According to the DOJ, the bribes were intended to protect the businessmen and to benefit Egypt.
Menendez faces up to 45 years in prison if convicted of the charges, which include conspiracy to commit bribery, conspiracy to commit honest services fraud, and conspiracy to commit extortion under color of official right.