Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., will resign effective Aug. 20, multiple media outlets reported Tuesday, following the lawmaker's conviction last week on federal corruption charges.
His plans to resign followed calls for him to step down from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D.N.Y., Democrat New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, and Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., chair of Senate Armed Services Committee.
And Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., Menendez's longtime friend, said if Menendez refused to resign, he would lead an effort to expel him from the Senate, The New Jersey Globe reported Tuesday.
Menendez, 70, former chair of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was convicted July 16 by a Manhattan jury on 16 felony counts, including bribery, extortion and working as a foreign agent on behalf of Egypt. He and his wife Nadine Menendez were accused of taking bribes from three New Jersey businessmen who showered him and his wife with cash, gold bars and a Mercedes-Benz for his help securing deals with foreign officials and trying to derail several criminal investigations in New Jersey.
Menendez's wife also was indicted but no date has been set for her trial as she undergoes treatment for advanced breast cancer.
Menendez, who did not testify in his own defense, is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 29. The Washington Post reported Tuesday he said he intends to appeal and believes he will win. He could face decades in prison.
Menendez declined to seek reelection in November but did file to run as an independent. He has not yet announced if he will continue his independent bid, but his resignation makes it unlikely he will continue his campaign.
His decision to resign means that Murphy must appoint a replacement to fill the remainder of Menendez's term, which ends on Jan. 3.
Possible candidates, according to the Globe, include Murphy's wife, Tammy Murphy, Lt. Governor Tahesha Way, former Secretary of State Nina Mitchell Wells, and U.S. District Court Judge Esther Salas. Rep. Andy Kim, D-N.J., the Democrat nominee for Menendez's seat in the fall general election, has said he would accept a Senate appointment if asked.
First elected to the education board in Union City, New Jersey in 1974, just two years after he finished high school, Menendez moved up to state Senate, and U.S. House, before being appointed to a vacant Senate seat in 2006, the Post reported. In his nearly 20 years in Congress, Menendez wielded vast influence, helping write the Affordable Care Act.
Shortly after his Senate appointment, a 2006 ethics complaint alleging misuse of federal grant money prompted a federal investigation, the Post reported. No charges were brought. Later, just days before his reelection in 2012, claims emerged he had slept with underage sex workers while out of the country. The FBI never substantiated the claims, but they continued to haunt Menendez's career, nonetheless, appearing in attack ads from a Republican challenger during his 2018 reelection campaign.
In 2015, Menendez faced federal charges of conspiracy, bribery, and honest services fraud after being accused of accepting flights, vacations, and campaign contributions from a wealthy donor in exchange for political favors. The senator vehemently denied the claims. The trial ended in a deadlocked jury, and the Justice Department declined to retry Menendez.
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