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Senator Bob Menendez has rejected a report that he’s set to resign from Congress after a jury convicted the longtime New Jersey lawmaker on federal corruption charges.
It was previously reported by NBC News the senator told allies that he plans to resign, but he refuted that version of events when speaking to CBS News.
“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,” he told CBS on Wednesday.
The Democratic senator has consistently rejected calls for his resignation after he was placed at the center of a years-long scheme to wield his political influence to help the Egyptian government while sitting on a powerful foreign relations committee.
After a nine-week trial, a federal jury found that Menendez had knowingly taken bribes in the form of gold bars, cash, a Mercedes-Benz and jewelry from two New Jersey businessmen and foreign leaders in exchange for political favors.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and New Jersey Senator Cory Booker are among more than 40 Senate Democrats who have urged Menendez to step down in the wake of his conviction.
“In light of this guilty verdict, Senator Menendez must now do what is right for his constituents, the Senate, and our country, and resign,” Schumer said in a statement at the end of the trial.
New Jersey’s Democratic Governor Phil Murphy, among the first top party officials to call for his resignation, had said he would appoint a senator to temporarily finish out his term, which ends in January 2025.
Democratic congressman Andy Kim and Republican candidate Curtis Bashaw are running in the November general election for Menendez’s Senate seat. Menendez had filed to run this year as an independent if he was exonerated.
After leaving the courthouse on Tuesday, Menendez claimed he “never violated” his oath of office and planned to appeal the verdict.
“I have never been anything but a patriot of my country and for my country,” he said in a statement to reporters. “The decision rendered by the jury today would put at risk every member of the United States Senate in terms of what they think a foreign agent would be.”
The senator’s wife, Nadine Menendez, was also charged in connection with her husband’s scheme, though the federal judge overseeing the trial had severed their cases after it was revealed she is battling breast cancer. Her trial has been indefinitely delayed.
Menendez’s co-defendants — real estate developer Fred Daibes and Egyptian-born businessman Wael Hana — were also found guilty on seven counts each.
During the Republican National Convention, as GOP officials dodge questions about their own criminally convicted candidate Donald Trump, Senate Republicans have largely left the question of Menendez’s future up to their Democratic colleagues.
“I’m gonna leave that to my colleagues on the Democratic side. I mean, the conviction is serious,” North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis told The Bulwark. “But I’m staying out of that. That’s something the Democrats have already opined on — I think several have called for his resignation. I’ll let the Democrats solve their Democrat member problem, not me.”
Additional reporting by Ariana Baio
