Sen. Menendez Pleads Not Guilty to Bribery Charges

Senator Bob Menendez, Democrat of New Jersey, and his wife Nadine Arslanian, arrive at the US District Court, Southern District of New York on Sept. 27, 2023. Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images

Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) appeared in court on Sept. 27 and pleaded not guilty to bribery charges leveled at him on Sept. 22.

The New Jersey Democrat made his first appearance in a federal court in Manhattan amid mounting demands from his colleagues for his resignation from Congress. Mr. Menendez and his wife, who’s also accused in the case, said nothing as they entered the lower Manhattan courthouse on the morning of Sept. 27.

On Sept. 22, Mr. Menendez and his wife, Nadine Arslanian Menendez, were indicted by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, who has filed multiple counts of conspiracy against them, including bribery, honest services fraud, and extortion under color of law.

Mr. Menendez and his wife allegedly accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes, as detailed in charge documents (pdf) obtained by The Epoch Times. Officials claimed that bribes took the forms of cash, gold, and even contributions toward a mortgage. In June 2022, when executing a search warrant at the Menendez residence, authorities seized both gold and cash.

A defiant Mr. Menendez, who resigned as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee after being indicted last week, asserts that allegations that he abused his position to enrich himself are without merit. He has said that he’s confident he'll be cleared and has no plans to leave the Senate.

This is Mr. Menendez’s second corruption case in a decade; in 2017, jurors failed to reach a verdict in a trial involving similar allegations.

Mr. Menendez said during a Sept. 25 press briefing that the accusations leveled against him by prosecutors are categorically false and that the evidence found in his home was money kept on hand because of his family’s history with communism, and he asked for the presumption of innocence in his case.

“A cornerstone of the foundation of American democracy and our justice system is the principle that all people are presumed innocent until proven guilty. All people,” Mr. Menendez told a group of reporters. “I asked for nothing more and deserve nothing less. The court of public opinion is no substitute for our revered justice system.”

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), who previously shied away from calling on Mr. Menendez to step down, changed his tune on Sept. 27, saying in a statement posted to X, formerly known as Twitter: “Leaders in New Jersey, including the Governor and my Senate colleague Cory Booker, have made it clear that Sen. Menendez can no longer serve. He should step down.”

Calls For Menendez to Step Down

Mr. Durbin’s post was made after his Sept. 24 statement in which he called the claims against Mr. Menendez serious but didn’t call for his resignation.

“This is a very serious charge. There’s no question about it,” Mr. Durbin said when asked whether Mr. Menendez should resign during CNN’s “State of the Union.” "But it bears reminding us of what I have said about the indictments against Donald Trump, equally serious charges.

“These are, in fact, indictments that have to be proven under the rule of law.”

Mr. Menendez’s fellow senator from New Jersey, Mr. Booker, made headlines when he released a statement on Sept. 26 offering his take on his embattled colleague, who has been in the Senate since 2006 and is currently working his way through his third term. Mr. Booker praised Mr. Menendez but said he should leave office.

He described Sen. Menendez as “intellectually gifted, tough, passionate, and deeply empathic” and said he valued their working relationship and friendship.

“A jury of his peers will make the ultimate decision as to whether he is criminally guilty,” Mr. Booker said. “There is, however, another higher standard for public officials, one not of criminal law but of common ideals.

“As senators, we operate in the public trust. That trust is essential to our ability to do our work and perform our duties for our constituents.”

The lawmaker asserted that because of the nature of the charges, the people of New Jersey can’t overlook the possibility that Mr. Menendez is guilty and that his ability to fulfill his duties has been compromised.

“Sen. Menendez fiercely asserts his innocence, and it is therefore understandable that he believes stepping down is patently unfair. But I believe this is a mistake. Stepping down is not an admission of guilt but an acknowledgment that holding public office often demands tremendous sacrifices at great personal cost,” Mr. Booker said.

“Sen. 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 Sen. Menendez has spent his life serving.”

Other Senate Democrats joining the chorus of voices calling for Mr. Menendez to step down included Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Bob Casey (D-Pa.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.).

More calls, later on Sept. 26, came from Sens. Edward Markey (D-Mass.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Kristen Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), and Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.).

The Associated Press contributed to this report.