New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and other top Garden State Democrats are calling on Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez to resign – a sign of how quickly the senator’s political support may erode after Friday’s shocking indictment on federal bribery charges.
“The alleged facts are so serious that they compromise the ability of Senator Menendez to effectively represent the people of our state,” Murphy, a Democrat, said in a statement.
Murphy would appoint a senator to replace Menendez should he resign. Menendez is up for reelection in 2024.
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.
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“The alleged facts are so serious that they compromise the ability of Senator Menendez to effectively represent the people of our state,” Murphy, a Democrat, said in a statement.
And the senator was defiant against the charges in a statement, calling the investigation “an active smear campaign of anonymous sources and innuendos to create an air of impropriety where none exists.”
“The charges laid out against Senator Menendez today go against everything we should believe as public servants,” New Jersey General Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin said in a statement.
In separate statements, Democratic Reps. Andy Kim, Josh Gottheimer, Bill Pascrell and Donald Norcross also called for the senator to resign, saying the seriousness of the charges will make it difficult for him to serve the state.
“I have unwavering confidence in my father and his dedication to the New Jerseyans who he has relentlessly fought for in his long career as a public servant,” said Robert Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat.
In 2015, he was charged with conspiracy, bribery and honest services fraud relating to allegedly abusing the power of his office as part of a relationship with a wealthy ophthalmologist.
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