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New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy and other top Democrats in that state are calling for the resignation of New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez, a sign of how quickly the senator’s political support is being lost, after it was revealed on Friday the shocking indictment against him on federal bribery charges.
“Under our legal system, Senator Menendez and the other defendants have not been found guilty and will have the ability to present evidence to challenge these charges, and we must respect the process,” Murphy said in a statement. “The alleged facts are so serious that they compromise Senator Menendez’s ability to effectively represent the people of our state,” Phil Murphy, a Democrat, said in a statement.
Murphy would name a senator to replace Menendez if he resigned. Menéndez is running for re-election in 2024.
Senator Menendez is an attorney and politician who has served as New Jersey’s senior United States senator since 2006.
Menéndez and his wife Nadine are accused of receiving bribes in exchange for the senator using his influence to benefit three businessmen, revealed the US Attorney’s office in the Southern District of New York. The couple is accused of favoring businessmen Wael “Will” Hana, José Uribe and Fred Daibe, to obtain different benefits, such as the exclusive importation of halal meat.
In addition, the Democratic senator would have used his influence to benefit the Egyptian government in arms transactions.
“I do not go anywhere”
Menendez responded to the federal accusations with a statement released Friday night where he said: “I do not go anywhere”.
“Those who believe in justice believe in innocence until proven otherwise,” Menéndez said. “I intend to continue fighting for the people of New Jersey with the same success I have had over the past five decades. This is the same record of success that these same leaders have praised all along. “It doesn’t escape me how quickly some are quick to judge a Latino and remove him from his seat.”
Menendez and his wife, Nadine Arslanian Menendez, are accused of accepting “hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes,” including gold, cash and a luxury vehicle in exchange for the senator’s influence.
A lawyer for Nadine Menendez said she denies any wrongdoing and would fight the federal charge.
And the senator was defiant against the charges in a statement, calling the investigation “an active campaign of smear from anonymous sources and innuendo to create an air of impropriety where none exists.”
But Menéndez did resign as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last Friday.
Senate leader Chuck Schumer (New York) reported that Menéndez made the decision, although it will be temporary. “Senator Menendez has correctly decided to temporarily resign from his position as Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee until the matter is resolved,” Schumer said in a brief message Friday afternoon.
More New Jersey Democrats call for Menendez to resign
Several Democratic members of New Jersey’s congressional delegation joined Governor Murphy in calling for Menendez to resign following the impeachment.
“The charges filed today against Senator Menendez go against everything we should believe as public servants,” New Jersey General Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin said in a statement. “We have the trust of the public and once that trust is broken, we cannot continue.”
New Jersey Democratic State Committee Chairman LeRoy J. Jones Jr. said the allegations are “incredibly serious and raise many troubling questions.”
But while state Attorney General Matthew Platkin said the allegations against Menendez were “deeply disturbing,” he did not call for the senator to resign.
Members of the New Jersey delegation in Washington, D.C., also called on Menendez to resign.
Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman on Saturday called on Menendez to resign, becoming the first senator, and a Democrat, to do so.
“Senator Menendez should resign,” Fetterman wrote in a tweet. “He has the right to the presumption of innocence, but he cannot continue to influence national policy, especially given the serious and specific nature of the accusations.”
Republican presidential candidate and former New Jersey governor Chris Christie on Saturday joined Democrats’ calls for Menendez to resign.
Keep reading:
– Bob Menéndez had to leave the presidency of the Senate Committee due to accusations of bribery for thousands of dollars
– Senator Bob Menéndez challenges the corruption accusation against him
– The more than $480,000 dollars and gold bars that were found in the home of Senator Bob Menéndez and his wife