Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) on Tuesday called on Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) to resign just minutes after the New Jersey Democrat was found guilty by a jury in New York of acting as a foreign agent as part of a yearslong bribery and conspiracy scheme.
“In light of this guilty verdict, Senator Menendez must now do what is right for his constituents, the Senate, and our country, and resign,” Schumer said in a statement.
Menendez, 70, is set to be sentenced on Oct. 29. He was found guilty on all 16 counts. The most serious charges of extortion and wire fraud carry a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Menendez faces a maximum of 222 years in prison, but it’s likely any sentences would run concurrently.
Schumer previously said Menendez’s alleged actions were unbecoming of a senator but stopped short of urging him to resign from the chamber.
Menendez, speaking to reporters outside the courthouse following the verdict, maintained his innocence and said he will appeal the case’s outcome. He made no indication that he plans to resign.
“I have never been anything but a patriot of my country and for my country,” Menendez said. “I have never, ever been a foreign agent. And the decision arrived to by the jury today would put at risk every member of the United States Senate in terms of what they think a foreign agent would be.”
Prior to his conviction, a majority of Senate Democrats urged Menendez to resign. He remains a member of the Foreign Relations Committee with access to classified briefings and sensitive information.
Menendez could be expelled from the Senate with a two-thirds majority vote. The third-term senator, whose term ends in January 2025, filed last month to run for reelection as an independent after gathering enough signatures to continue his longshot bid to remain in office.
Menendez’s New Jersey congressional colleagues re-upped their calls for him to step aside shortly after the verdict dropped.
Rep. Andy Kim (D-NJ), the Democratic nominee for Menendez’s Senate seat that is up for reelection in November, doubled down on his call for the incumbent to step aside.
“This is a sad and somber day for New Jersey and our country,” Kim said in a statement. “Our public servants should work for the people, and today we saw the people judge Senator Menendez as guilty and unfit to serve. I called on Senator Menendez to step down when these charges were first made public, and now that he has been found guilty, I believe the only course of action for him is to resign his seat immediately.
Gov. Phil Murphy (D-NJ), who would be tasked with appointing a successor if Menendez vacates his office, reiterated the senator should resign immediately for “endangering national security and the integrity of our criminal justice system.” If Menendez refuses, Murphy urged the Senate to expel him.
Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) also restated his position that Menendez must leave office.
“With this conviction, the urgency for Senator Menendez to step down and for the governor to appoint a replacement has even more urgency,” Booker said.
Menendez’s litany of charges includes extortion, wire fraud, obstruction of justice, acting as a foreign agent for Egypt, bribery, and conspiracy. He was convicted of taking hundreds of thousands of dollars, a luxury convertible, furniture, and 13 gold bars in exchange for aiding the government of Egypt, setting up a lucrative halal meat monopoly, and disrupting criminal investigations on behalf of his friends and family.
Menendez’s co-defendants, New Jersey businessmen Wael Hana and Fred Daibes, were also found guilty on related charges.
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A separate public corruption trial against Menendez in 2017 ended in a mistrial. Prosecutors on Tuesday celebrated the guilty verdict.
“This wasn’t politics as usual. This was politics for profit,” said Damian Williams, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. “And now that a jury has convicted Bob Menendez, his years of selling his office of the highest bidder have finally come to an end.”