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(Al Jazeera) US Senator Bob Menendez has announced that he will resign next month after being found guilty of corruption charges including bribery and acting as an agent of the Egyptian government.
Tuesday’s decision came as Menendez’s fellow Democrats pressed him to step down, or he would become the first politician to be expelled from the Senate since 1862.
“I will resign as United States Senator from New Jersey, effective at the close of business on August 20, 2024,” Menendez said in the letter.
The letter added: “While I intend to appeal the jury’s decision, including to the Supreme Court, I do not want the Senate to be embroiled in a lengthy process that would undermine its important work.”
New Jersey Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy will appoint a replacement for Menendez, who represented New Jersey in the Senate since 2006 and served as chairman of the influential Foreign Relations Committee before being removed from the post and resigning last year.
Menendez’s current six-year term ends on January 3.
Murphy said in a statement that he had received the letter but did not elaborate on when an interim successor to Menendez would be finalized.
Bribery Scheme
After a nine-week trial, Menendez, 70, was found guilty by a jury in Manhattan federal court on July 16 on all 16 counts he faced, including obstruction of justice, wire fraud and racketeering. Two co-defendants were also found guilty.
At the heart of the case is what prosecutors call a bribery scheme in which the senator and his wife, Nadine Menendez, received hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, gold bars, cars and mortgages from three businessmen. In exchange, prosecutors say, Menendez manipulated billions of dollars in U.S. aid to Egypt and tried to influence criminal prosecutions of two of the businessmen.
Menendez plans to appeal his conviction and faces decades in prison.
U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein has set the politician’s sentencing for Oct. 29, a week before the Nov. 5 election.
Vermont Sen. Peter Welch, who presided over Senate proceedings on Tuesday, said the Senate had received a copy of Menendez’s resignation letter.
Menendez’s resignation would temporarily reduce the Democratic majority in the Senate to 50-49 until Murphy’s appointees are sworn in to serve out the remainder of Menendez’s term.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Andy Kim will run for the seat in November and is expected to win in Democratic-leaning New Jersey.
Many Democrats have called for Menendez’s resignation, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and New Jersey Senator Cory Booker. New Jersey Governor Murphy urged the Senate to expel Menendez if he does not resign.
This is the second time Menendez has gone to trial, after a 2017 trial ended when the jury could not reach a unanimous verdict. Afterward, the Senate Ethics Committee censured Menendez for accepting a gift from a wealthy old friend in exchange for an official favor.
Menendez was first appointed to the Senate in 2006 after serving in the U.S. House of Representatives for 13 years. He was subsequently elected to the Senate three times.
He served as a member of the New Jersey State Legislature and as mayor.
He has been a powerful voice on U.S. foreign relations for decades, most recently advocating for more aid to Ukraine and Israel as Democratic President Joe Biden pushes Congress to allocate more money to foreign allies involved in conflicts.
The senator’s son, U.S. Rep. Rob Menendez, continues to represent a New Jersey congressional district across the Hudson River from New York City that is similar to the one his father previously represented.
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