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The floodgates opened Tuesday with calls from roughly half of Senate Democrats for Sen. Bob Menendez to resign over bribery and public corruption charges.
Those pressuring the New Jersey Democrat to step down included several senators up for reelection next year, the chair of the Senate Democratic campaign arm and a longtime ally who vigorously defended Mr. Menendez during an indictment years ago: Sen. Cory A. Booker, a fellow New Jersey Democrat.
“Stepping down is not an admission of guilt but an acknowledgment that holding public office often demands tremendous sacrifices at great personal cost,” Mr. Booker said. “Senator Menendez has made these sacrifices in the past to serve. And in this case, he must do so again. I believe stepping down is best for those Senator Menendez has spent his life serving.”
Most of the resignation calls rained down one day after Mr. Menendez refused to relinquish his office based on what he described as salacious and false accusations.
Federal prosecutors in New York say Mr. Menendez and his wife, Nadine Arslanian, accepted gifts from three New Jersey businessmen — including more than a half-million dollars in cash, gold bars worth more than $100,000 and a luxury car — in exchange for information that would benefit the businessmen and the Egyptian government.
“I firmly believe that when all the facts are presented, not only will I be exonerated, but I still will be New Jersey’s senior senator,” Mr. Menendez said during a Monday press conference in his home state. “Instead of waiting for all the facts to be presented, others have rushed to judgment because they see a political opportunity for themselves or those around them.”
Mr. Menendez was indicted in 2015 on charges related to donor gifts from Salomon Melgen in a case that ended with a hung jury. Mr. Booker vehemently defended Mr. Menendez throughout the process.
Prosecutors declined to retry the case, and Mr. Menendez was reelected in 2018.
The growing list of Senate Democrats calling for his resignation includes John Fetterman and Robert Casey of Pennsylvania, Peter Welch of Vermont, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, Mr. Booker, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Jon Tester of Montana, Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, Jacky Rosen of Nevada, Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey of Massachusetts, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Mark Kelly of Arizona, Michael F. Bennet and John Hickenlooper of Colorado, Gary C. Peters and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, Mazie K. Hirono of Hawaii, Richard Blumenthal and Christopher Murphy of Connecticut, Raphael Warnock of Georgia, Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, and Bernard Sanders, an independent from Vermont who caucuses with Democrats.
On Saturday, Mr. Fetterman was the first to say Mr. Menendez should resign.
Ms. Stabenow is the No. 3 Democrat, while Mr. Peters leads Senate Democrats’ reelection efforts, indicating that the party will not support a Menendez reelection campaign in 2024.
Mr. Casey, Mr. Brown, Mr. Tester, Ms. Rosen and Ms. Baldwin face competitive reelection races next year.
Most of those calling for his resignation have argued that Mr. Menendez is entitled to due process and the presumption of innocence but should be held to a more scrupulous standard in the court of public opinion.
“While he deserves a fair trial like every other American, I believe Senator Menendez should resign for the sake of the public’s faith in the U.S. Senate,” Mr. Tester said.
Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer of New York and other top leadership members have not called for Mr. Menendez to give up his Senate seat. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Monday that the charges were a “serious matter” but declined to say Mr. Menendez should step down.
Mr. Menendez, 69, is up for reelection next year but has not said he will seek a fourth term. He was forced to give up his chairmanship of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee because of chamber rules.
Rep. Andy Kim, New Jersey Democrat, said he will launch a primary challenge for the Senate.
Mr. Menendez will be arraigned Wednesday in federal court.
Mr. Menendez addressed some of the prosecutors’ detailed allegations during his Monday press conference.
He said the alleged cash bribes totaling more than $500,000 were from decades of withdrawing from his savings account as a precaution derived from being a Cuban American whose family suffered in the island’s communist revolution.
“For 30 years, I have withdrawn thousands of dollars in cash from my personal savings account, which I have kept for emergencies, and because of the history of my family facing confiscation in Cuba,” Mr. Menendez said. “Now this may seem old-fashioned, but these were monies drawn from my personal savings account based on the income that I have lawfully derived over those 30 years.”
Prosecutors said DNA evidence connects the money to one of the three New Jersey businessmen accused of bribing him.
Mr. Menendez did not address the gold bars or a Mercedes convertible for his wife that were allegedly received as part of a “corrupt” relationship from 2018 to 2022 with Wael Hana, Jose Uribe and Fred Daibes, one of his fundraisers.
Mr. Menendez also defended his policy stances and political work regarding Egypt. He said he was unfairly targeted because of longtime disagreements over his foreign policy views.
• Ramsey Touchberry can be reached at rtouchberry@washingtontimes.com.
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