The call for Menendez to abdicate his seat was echoed by state Democratic Party Chairman LeRoy Jones Jr., who said urging the senator to step aside was a “tough decision.”
“But to read the indictment is to see that these allegations are serious,” Jones said in an interview. “It just leaves people like myself and other elected leaders no choice but to call for his resignation.”
In statements, Murphy and Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Menendez has a right to defend himself in the criminal justice system. But Murphy said the allegations are “disturbing” enough that Menendez should no longer serve in the Senate.
“The alleged facts are so serious that they compromise the ability of Senator Menendez to effectively represent the people of our state,” Murphy said in a statement.
Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. (D-N.J.), one of the most senior members of the state’s congressional delegation, said the gravity of the charges made the difference.
“I do not believe that Senator Menendez can continue to carry out the important duties of his office for our state,” Pascrell said.
New Jersey Rep. Andy Kim (D) said Menendez should resign because he lacks “the ability to properly focus on our state” while contesting the allegations. Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.) said Menendez’s resignation would be “in the best interest of our state.” It was a sentiment echoed by another Democratic member of the New Jersey congressional delegation, Rep. Mikie Sherrill.
“These are serious allegations against Senator Menendez and if proven true, there is no room for this kind of conduct in public service,” Sherrill said in a social media post. “Today is a sad day for New Jersey and I believe it’s in the best interest of our state that Senator Menendez resign.”
Menendez rebuffed his fellow Democrats’ calls for his resignation Friday evening.
“Those who believe in justice believe in innocence until proven guilty,” Menendez said in a statement. “I intend to continue to fight for the people of New Jersey with the same success I’ve had for the past five decades. … I am not going anywhere.”
The indictment accuses Menendez, who is up for reelection in 2024, and his wife, Nadine Menendez, of a bribery scheme that includes using the senator’s position to covertly benefit the Egyptian government. The indictment, which also charges three associates of the couple, paints a picture of wide-ranging abuses of power conducted in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of cash and gifts.
Earlier on Friday, Menendez attributed the prosecution to nameless “forces behind the scenes” attempting to silence him “and dig my political grave.” He said prosecutors had misrepresented the normal work of serving in Congress and falsely created a sense of impropriety.
“They wrote these charges as they wanted; the facts are not as presented. Prosecutors did that the last time and look what a trial demonstrates,” Menendez said in a statement. “People should remember that before accepting the prosecutor’s version.”
After his 2015 indictment on federal corruption charges, Menendez relinquished his leadership role on the Foreign Relations Committee. Prosecutors in that case alleged that he aided a friend and top campaign contributor in avoiding government regulations in exchange for lavish trips on his private jet. The case went to trial, but a jury could not reach a verdict.
The Senate Democratic Caucus’s rules require any member who chairs a committee and is charged with a felony to step down from the role. The next-most-senior Democratic committee member would serve as acting chair, per caucus rules.
Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) stepped in to serve in Menendez’s role in 2015 until a judge dismissed the charges against Menendez. Cardin is again expected to assume the role of committee chairman in Menendez’s absence.
In addition to his role on the Foreign Relations Committee, Menendez also sits on the Senate’s Banking Committee and the Finance Committee.
Many national politicians — Democrats and Republicans alike — stayed silent on the matter. The White House avoided weighing in Friday.
“We learned about this just like all of you,” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters. “But again, this is an active matter. So I’m not going to comment.”
She added: “As far as his leadership role in the Senate, that is something for Senate leadership to speak to.”
A few Democrats from outside New Jersey called on Menendez to resign. Among them was former attorney general Eric Holder, who said the senator should step aside “given the nature of the charges.”
“The nation will be better served if he steps aside and allows a transition to occur that will best serve the people of New Jersey,” Holder wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
Rep. Dean Phillips, a Minnesota Democrat, said the public should be “appalled” by the allegations.
“In comparison to the president of the United States, of which there is no evidence whatsoever he’s broken the law and yet is being subject to an impeachment inquiry, there is evidence here,” Phillips said Friday in an interview on CNN. “And yes, I’m a Democrat, so is Senator Menendez. But based on what I’ve seen, I’m disappointed, and yes, I think he should resign.”
Kyle Jasey, a real estate lender in Jersey City and Menendez’s only declared opponent in the Democratic primary, predicted that the charges “will help to convince voters that enough is enough.” He said he launched his campaign over the summer after waiting to see whether someone with more name recognition and fundraising prowess would take on Menendez.
Even after Friday’s indictment, Jasey expressed doubt that the state Democratic Party would pressure Menendez not to seek reelection, given the party’s hands-off approach when the incumbent Democrat sought another term in 2018. National Democrats, meanwhile, rallied around Menendez in that race.
Menendez’s son, Rep. Robert Menendez Jr. (D-N.J.), dismissed the charges as a “distraction.”
“And it must also be said that in my life, I have seen countless detractors who refuse to believe a son of immigrants from Hudson County could rise to be one of 100 and yet he’s constantly proven them wrong,” the younger Menendez said in a statement. “And thankfully those who know him and what he has stood for his entire career outnumber the naysayers.”
Paul Kane contributed to this report.
