Sen. Robert Menendez will break the silence that he has maintained since he pleaded not guilty to federal corruption charges last week when he is interviewed by Fox News' Chris Wallace on Sunday,
according to the Fox News website.
The embattled New Jersey Democrat has been quiet in the week following the forceful defense he offered in a press conference held after he was charged in a 14-count indictment that alleges he intervened on behalf of Dr. Salomon Melgen, the West Palm Beach, Fla., ophthalmologist with whom Menendez has had a long friendship.
While Menendez voluntarily forfeited his seat as ranking member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he has insisted that he was "not going anywhere," and
a new poll suggests New Jersey voters are willing to wait for the facts to be determined.
A Rutgers-Eagleton poll released Tuesday found 58 percent believe he should be allowed to remain in office, while 34 percent said he should resign.
Half of those polled were asked a generic question about Menendez, while the other half were asked to respond to a specific question.
Two-thirds of New Jerseyans believe a politician should not leave office until found guilty, compared to 29 percent who prefer that "an accused official quit immediately," the poll found.
After his indictment, 34 percent of residents have a favorable impression of Menendez, which represents a decline of just 3 points compared to February.
"Once the indictment was announced, we made an appropriate change in the question; the result seems to be more support for the idea of 'innocent until proven guilty,' even as the Star Ledger and New York Times have called for Menendez to quit," said David Redlawsk, director of the Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling and professor of political science at Rutgers University, according to a press release accompanying the poll.
"Perhaps the senator's strong response that he will fight the charges had some initial effect as the story was breaking," he added.
Republicans, like Menendez, have chosen to stay quiet too.
"The hands-off approach — while not a defense of the New Jersey senator — underscores a private GOP calculation: If Menendez lingers in office with the indictment hanging over his head, the worse it looks for Democrats,"
reports Politico.
While not publicly condemning a member of their own party, a number of Democratic politicians, interest groups, and political organizations have chosen to return donations the prolific fundraiser has made to their campaigns,
reports Politico.
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