Senator Bob Menendez and his partner Nadine Menendez (not seen) leave a Manhattan court after they were arraigned on federal bribery charges in New York, September 27, 2023.
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Sen Bob Menendez of New Jersey promised once again Thursday to stay in the Senate after resolving his fellow Democrats, the majority of whom state he needs to resign after a federal bribery indictment.
“I will continue to cast votes on behalf of the people of New Jersey as I have for 18 years,” Menendez informed press reporters following his closed-door conference with the Senate Democratic caucus in the Mansfield Room at the U.S. Capitol.
Sen John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, the very first Democrat to require Menendez to step down, in a social networks post prior to the conference composed, “Unless Senator Menendez is coming today to resign, I am not interested in hearing his ‘explanation’ for gold bars stashed in a mattress.”
Fetterman, who because has actually been signed up with by 29 other senators in looking for Menendez’s resignation, avoided the conference.
“It’s a pattern and he really needs to decide to resign,” Fetterman informed press reporters. “He’s clearly not going to have an honorable exit.”
During the conference, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York asked the 3 Democratic senators on the Ethics Committee, Chris Coons of Delaware, Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Hawaii’s Brian Schatz, to leave the space, which they did, a source in the space informed NBC News.
An Ethics Committee into Menendez’s conduct is anticipated.
Schumer has actually not asked Menendez to resign.
But other Democratic leaders have, amongst them Majority Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois, Senate President professional tempore Patty Murray of Washington and Michigan’s Debbie Stabenow.
A variety of House Democrats have actually likewise stated Menendez ought to leave, consisting of Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York and Nancy Pelosi of California, the previous speaker.
Jeffries on Thursday stated, “At the end of the day, his fate will be decided by a jury of his peers.”
“Yet it’s hard for me to see how the senator can effectively at this moment represent the people he’s ably served for decades in New Jersey,” Jeffries stated.
Menendez, 69, was charged recently in Manhattan federal court with conspiracy to devote bribery and other charges with his partner, Nadine, and 3 New Jersey business people.
The couple pleaded innocent Wednesday to the charges in federal court in Manhattan.
Prosecutors have actually stated that a raid on their home in 2015 discovered not just the gold however likewise numerous countless dollars in money, and a Mercedes-Benz convertible that they supposedly got in exchange for Menendez utilizing his impact to attempt to assist the 3 males.
