WASHINGTON, D.C. (LifeSiteNews) — Senate Democrats continue to call for their colleague Senator Bob Menendez to resign and not seek re-election in 2024.
The leftist New Jersey Democrat senator faces federal charges for allegedly taking gold bars and a luxury vehicle as a bribe from the government of Egypt. Sen. Menendez chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. His wife also took a no-show job as part of her bribery. He maintains he is innocent.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) stated the senator “agreed to take a series of official acts and breaches of his official duty” in exchange for bribes, according to the September 22 announcement.
The allegations led New Jersey’s junior senator, Cory Booker, to call for Menendez to resign. He referenced that Menendez previously faced, but beat, federal corruption charges in 2015.
Sen. Booker praised his colleague’s “his extraordinary work and boundless work ethic” but stated “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 stated in his news release. “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.”
CNN reported that more than half of the Senate Democrats have called on their New Jersey peer to resign.
“While Senator Menendez enjoys the presumption of innocence until proven guilty and will have his day in court to defend himself, I believe it’s best for his constituents, the American people, and our national security for the Senator to step down,” Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin stated.
Though Menendez has been a reliable liberal vote, he bucked his party and President Barack Obama by opposing a nuclear deal with Iran.
CNN noted Democrats are “facing an uphill battle to keep control of the chamber in 2024” and Democrat Governor Phil Murphy barely won the 2021 governor’s race, providing political reasons for Democrats to remove a senator facing a significant controversy.
Former Republican New Jersey Governor Chris Christie recently said he did not plan to run for the seat in 2024, should he give up his failing presidential candidacy.
“No, I have no interest in being in the United States Senate,” Christie said on Meet the Press.
Indictment raises concerns about foreign influence on American policy
The federal charges also show how United States foreign policy can be co-opted by bought and paid for politicians.
Senator Menendez and his wife Nadine “agreed to and did accept hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of bribes” from three associates, some of whom had ties to the Egyptian government, according to the DOJ.
In 2018, when the couple began dating, Nadine “worked with [longtime Egyptian friend Wael Hana] to introduce Egyptian intelligence and military officials” to her then-boyfriend, the New Jersey senator.
A search of the couple’s home by the FBI yielded “many of the fruits of this bribery scheme, including cash, gold, the luxury convertible, and home furnishings. Over $480,000 in cash — much of it stuffed into envelopes and hidden in clothing, closets, and a safe — was discovered in the home, as well as over $70,000 in cash.”
The DOJ alleged Sen. Menendez “agreed to use his power and influence as a Senator to seek to protect” the interests of Hana and New Jersey businessmen Fred Daibes and Jose Uribe.
For example, Menendez is accused of pressuring a United States Department of Agriculture official to “protect a business monopoly granted to [Hana] by Egypt.”
Menendez also “took actions seeking to disrupt a criminal investigation undertaken by the Office of the New Jersey Attorney General” into Uribe’s business, according to the DOJ.
His son, also named Robert Menendez, is currently a congressman representing New Jersey.