Embattled Sen. Bob Menendez failed to convince his Democratic colleagues in a closed-door meeting Thursday to back off calls for him to resign amid federal bribery and corruption charges.
Mr. Menendez remained defiant in his refusal to step down, maintaining his innocence during the roughly 15-minute speech to his fellow Democrats in which he vowed never to resign and insisted he will be exonerated, according to several lawmakers who were in the room.
The third-term senator from New Jersey did not appear to change the minds of any of the roughly 30 Senate Democrats in the 51-member caucus who have urged Mr. Menendez to vacate his seat. Many emerged from the meeting tight-lipped and declined to comment, while others such as Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal said they weren’t swayed.
Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer of New York remained the lone Democrat in leadership to not urge him to resign, although he admonished Mr. Menendez and said he “fell way, way below” congressional ethics standards.
Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, who was the first Democrat to call for resignation, said it was time for an expulsion resolution to oust Mr. Menendez.
“Now that it’s confirmed he’s not going to go the honorable way, I would like to pursue whatever avenues are available,” Mr. Fetterman, who did not attend Mr. Menendez’s remarks, told reporters.
Expulsion would require a two-thirds majority vote.
Although nearly two-thirds of the caucus want him to resign, Mr. Fetterman remained the only Democrat to raise the prospect of evicting Mr. Menendez.
Mr. Menendez pleaded not guilty during his first federal court appearance Wednesday in New York. Prosecutors allege he and his wife, Nadine Arslanian, received lavish gifts from three New Jersey businessmen — including around $500,000 in cash, gold bars worth more than $100,000 and a luxury car — in exchange for nonclassified sensitive information to benefit the tycoons and the Egyptian government.
A 2015 case involving similar bribery charges against Mr. Menendez ended in 2017 with a mistrial. He was then elected to a third term in 2018.
He was forced to step down as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee under Democrats’ rules, but remains on the panel. Questions have emerged about whether he should be on the committee at all, given the bribery allegations involving foreign policy.
As he’s continued to do in public, Mr. Menendez did not tell his Democratic colleagues whether he would seek reelection next year, according to lawmakers in the room.
Mr. Fetterman raised concerns about Republicans picking up the longtime Democratic-held seat if Mr. Menendez remains in power.
New polling released Thursday from Democratic-tied Public Policy Polling that was commissioned by VoteVets, which endorsed Mr. Menendez’s primary opponent Rep. Andy Kim, showed Mr. Menendez with an 8% favorable vs. 74% unfavorable rating and down 22 points in a hypothetical match-up against a Republican.
Mr. Menendez did not field any questions after delivering the 15-minute speech. He also declined to answer reporters’ questions.
The Senate has expelled just 15 members since 1789, 14 of which occurred in 1862 during the Civil War for supporting the Confederacy, according to chamber records.
The Senate considered expulsion in several other cases — as recently as 1995 — but the proceedings were either dropped or the cases failed to play out before the member resigned. Three of the five who resigned in the face of expulsion were accused of corruption.
• Ramsey Touchberry can be reached at rtouchberry@washingtontimes.com.
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