By Dana DiFilippo | New Jersey Monitor
Sen. Bob Menendez intends to resign from the U.S. Senate effective Aug. 20, ending a 50-year career of public service that ended in disgrace when he was convicted on corruption charges.
Menendez, 70, initially resisted calls to resign following his September indictment and ignored reporters’ questions about it after last week’s verdict in Manhattan. But he faced expulsion from the Senate if he did not step down, with New Jersey’s junior senator, Cory Booker, saying he would lead that effort.
In a Tuesday letter to Gov. Phil Murphy, Menendez said the month between now and the effective date of his resignation would give his staff time to find other jobs and transfer pending constituent files, and would also allow for an orderly process for Murphy to choose an interim replacement.
“While I fully intend to appeal the jury’s verdict, all the way and including to the Supreme Court, I do not want the Senate to be involved in a lengthy process that will detract from its important work,” the letter reads.
The letter also reminds Murphy that he once called Menendez “the indespensible senator.”
Menendez a Democrat, was one of the most powerful senators in Washington, D.C., as chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He stepped down from that role after he was indicted, but remained a committee member. He had filed to run for reelection this November as an independent candidate.
His resignation comes after a growing chorus of politicians called for him to step down, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat. Murphy last week urged the Senate to expel him if he didn’t resign.
The news was first reported by the New Jersey Globe.
Menendez was convicted of 16 federal crimes, including bribery, extortion, honest services wire fraud, acting as a foreign agent, and obstruction of justice.
He vowed to appeal and has steadfastly maintained that the actions he took were the normal work of a U.S. senator and that the cash, gold, and other riches he accepted were gifts from generous friends, family inheritances, and stockpiled wealth.
The conviction came seven years after a jury in New Jersey deadlocked in a separate federal corruption trial on charges Menendez took bribes from a donor, Salomon Melgen.
His resignation ends a career that spanned half a century and started in 1974 in Union City, where he was elected to the Union City school board at the age of 20. He later became a lawyer and returned to politics, becoming Union City’s mayor in 1986.
He became a state lawmaker just two years later and served in the state Assembly and Senate before winning a House seat in 1992 to represent parts of North Jersey, including his longtime home of Hudson County. Former Gov. Jon Corzine appointed him to finish Corzine’s unexpired U.S. Senate term in January 2006, and Menendez won three subsequent elections to retain the seat.
Menendez’s term expires in January, and among those running to succeed him when the new Congress convenes are Rep. Andy Kim, a Democrat, and Republican hotelier Curtis Bashaw.
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