Senator Bob Menendez (D., N.J.) intends to step down from Congress next month, he wrote in his resignation letter to Governor Phil Murphy on Tuesday, which comes a week after his foreign-bribery conviction on 16 felony charges.
“While I fully intend to appeal the jury’s verdict, all the way and including to the Supreme Court, I do not want the Senate to be involved in a lengthy process that will detract from its important work,” Menendez wrote. He plans to resign on August 20.
“This will give time for my staff to transition to other possibilities, transfer constituent files that are pending, allow for an orderly process to choose an interim replacement, and for me to close out my Senate affairs,” he added.
The letter was entered into the congressional record by Senator Peter Welch (D., Vt.), who presided over the Senate on Tuesday.
The resignation comes days after Menendez previously shot down an NBC News report, citing sources who claimed he intended to step down from his post soon.
“I can tell you that I have not resigned nor have I spoken to any so-called allies,” Menendez told CBS News last Wednesday. “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.”
Despite his initial defiance following the federal conviction, it appears the embattled senator has listened to numerous calls from colleagues within his own party to vacate his Senate seat.
Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) quickly called for Menendez’s resignation, despite previously refusing to do so when the charges were made public. “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 posted on social media.
Murphy and Senator Cory Booker (D., N.J.) made similar pleas, with Murphy indicating he would fulfill his authority as governor to appoint a temporary replacement for Menendez’s place in the upper chamber.
“I will exercise my duty to make a temporary appointment to the United States Senate to ensure the people of New Jersey have the representation they deserve,” Murphy reiterated in a Tuesday statement.
Representative Andy Kim (D., N.J.), who won the Democratic primary to replace Menendez, is a likely pick, but it remains unclear how Murphy feels about Kim after the House Democrat bested the governor’s wife in the race. Tammy Murphy, who suspended her campaign after realizing she couldn’t beat Kim, is another plausible option for Menendez’s replacement.
Last week, a federal jury in New York convicted Menendez, 70, on 16 counts for accepting bribes — including hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, gold bars, and a Mercedes-Benz convertible — from three New Jersey businessmen in exchange for help with a number of legal issues. Menendez was also found to have financially benefited from working as a foreign agent on behalf of Qatar and Egypt while serving as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
The charges include obstruction of justice, acting as a foreign agent, bribery, extortion, and honest services wire fraud. The senator’s wife, Nadine Arslanian Menendez, faces the same charges. Her trial was delayed indefinitely.
Menendez maintains he is innocent and plans to appeal the corruption charges, to which he pleaded not guilty last year. The New Jersey senator could face up to 222 years in prison for the 16 counts. His sentencing is scheduled for October 29.