A Growing List of Democrats Call on Menendez to Resign

Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) questions Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler as he testifies before the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, on Capitol Hill, in Washington, on Sept. 15, 2022. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

After Sen. Bob Menendez’s (D-N.J.) indictment on federal bribery and corruption charges, more than a dozen fellow Democrats, including Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), called for his resignation on Tuesday.

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 Tuesday, 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.).

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 has disputed the claims and called them a “smear campaign.”

The indictment also names three New Jersey businessmen as co-defendants.

Before the Tuesday deluge, Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) was one of the first Democrats to say on Sept. 22 that Mr. Menendez should step down, followed by Democratic Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Peter Welch (D-Vt.) on Monday.

A Fellow New Jerseyan’s Take

Mr. Menendez’s fellow senator from New Jersey, Mr. Booker, made headlines when he released his Sept. 26 statement, 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.

“For nearly a decade, I’ve worked in the Senate alongside Sen. Menendez. As New Jersey’s junior senator, I imagine that I’ve had more professional experiences with him than most others, and I’ve witnessed his extraordinary work and boundless work ethic,” Mr. Booker said.

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

“Senator Menendez is again facing a federal indictment, one that contains shocking allegations of corruption and specific, disturbing details of wrongdoing. I’ve found the allegations hard to reconcile with the person I know,” said Mr. Booker.

“It is not surprising to me that Sen. Menendez is again determined to mount a vigorous defense. And I still believe he, like anyone involved with our criminal justice system, deserves our presumption of innocence until proven guilty.

“A jury of his peers will make the ultimate decision as to whether he is criminally guilty,” he 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 cannot overlook the possibility that Mr. Menendez is guilty, and therefore, 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.

“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.”

Support From Party Leadership

On Sept. 24, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) made much less negative statements, calling the fresh claims against Mr. Menendez “very serious,” but did not 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 program. “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,” he said.

“The person who is accused is entitled to the presumption of innocence. And it’s the responsibility of the government to prove that case.”

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre addressed the allegations against Mr. Menendez during the Sept. 25 press briefing, saying the administration does “believe the senator stepping down from his [Senate] chairmanship was the right thing to do.”

Aside from that, Ms. Jean-Pierre said the White House’s position is that the accusations against the New Jersey Democrat are a “serious matter” and other decisions about his future in the upper chamber of Congress should be left up to Senate leadership.

Mr. Menendez asserted during a Sept. 25 press briefing that the accusations leveled against him by prosecutors were categorically false and that the evidence found in his home was money kept on hand because of his family’s history with communism.

The New Jersey senator made his comments at Hudson County Community College’s campus in Union City, where he grew up, and referenced his family history to explain what was found during a search of his residence.

“For 30 years, I have withdrawn thousands of dollars in cash from my personal savings account, which I have kept for emergencies, and because of the history of my family facing confiscation in Cuba,” he said. “Now, this may seem old-fashioned, but these were monies drawn from my personal savings account based on the income that I have lawfully derived over those 30 years,”

The lawmaker also said he would “look forward to addressing other issues at trial.”