The disgraced New Jersey senator Robert Menendez is expected to resign today just over a month after being convicted of bribery charges that could see him sentenced to years in prison.
Menendez, 70, a three-term senator, was found guilty by a jury in a Manhattan courtroom of 16 counts of corruption, including bribery, extortion and acting as a foreign agent. A years-long investigation found Menendez had accepted bribes in the form of cash and gold bars in exchange for helping the governments of Qatar and Egypt.
Menendez’s departure from a body he once served in the august role of Senate foreign relations committee chairman is due after he told the New Jersey governor, Phil Murphy, in a resignation letter that today would be his final day.
He will be succeeded on a caretaker basis by George Helmy until an election for the vacant New Jersey Senate seat in November, when Andy Kim, a Democratic member of Congress, will be the party’s candidate against a Republican challenger, Curtis Bashaw.
Menendez, a once feared party power broker, announced last week that he would not compete in the election as an independent, a scenario that could have undermined the Democrats’ hopes of holding the seat and retaining their tiny Senate majority.
He had previously said he would run as an independent Democrat if he was cleared of the charges on which he was ultimately convicted.
Party strategists feared that, with a strong residue of support among the Latino community, an independent candidacy could have picked up enough support to throw the seat to the Republicans in a state where the GOP has not won a Senate election for more than half a century.
He is due to be sentenced on 29 October, although he has said he will appeal against the conviction.
His fellow New Jersey senator and former protege, Cory Booker, had previously said he would lead a charge to expel Menendez if he did not step down voluntarily.
