Two dozen Senate Democrats are now calling for Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., to resign after he was indicted last week on bribery and corruption charges.
On Tuesday, more than 20 senators joined a growing list of Menendez's colleagues, including his longtime friend and fellow senator from New Jersey, Cory Booker, who say he should step down.
“For nearly a decade, I’ve worked in the Senate alongside Senator Menendez. As New Jersey’s junior Senator, I imagine that I’ve had more professional experiences with him than most others, and I’ve witnessed his extraordinary work and boundless work ethic," Booker said in a statement before calling the allegations against him "shocking" with "specific, disturbing details of wrongdoing."
“Senator Menendez fiercely asserts his innocence and it is therefore understandable that he believes stepping down is patently unfair. But I believe this is a mistake," he said, adding that "stepping down is best for those Senator Menendez has spent his life serving.”
Booker is one of 24 Democratic senators who have publicly called on Menendez to step down. Several senators — including Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, Jon Tester of Montana, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, Jacky Rosen of Nevada and Bob Casey of Pennsylvania — are up for re-election in 2024, as is Menendez.
Klobuchar told NBC News she had also called for a "Senate ethics investigation to begin immediately separate and apart from the ongoing criminal case” in light of his refusal to resign.
Of the group up for re-election next year, Tester, Brown, Baldwin, Rosen and Casey face competitive contests in crucial swing states that Democrats are counting on to maintain control of the chamber.
Sens. Mark Kelly of Arizona and Raphael Warnock of Georgia, who won tough races last year, also called for Menendez to step down. Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan, who leads Senate Democrats’ campaign arm, urged Menendez to resign, saying the "serious nature" of the charges "undermined the public's faith."
Menendez, who defended himself in public remarks Monday and pleaded with his colleagues for time to prove his innocence, was seen on Capitol Hill late in the day Tuesday. Asked by reporters why he refuses to step down, he snapped: "Because I’m innocent. What’s wrong with you guys?”
Asked whether he still intends to run for re-election next year, Menendez sidestepped the question and said, "Right now I’m here to do the work of the people of New Jersey."
In a statement Tuesday, Rosen said the charges are “well-documented" and "a violation of the public trust."
“While he is entitled to due process and a fair trial, this is a distraction that undermines the bipartisan work we need to do in the Senate for the American people,” Rosen said.
Tester and Baldwin called the charges "deeply disturbing" and "deeply troubling," respectively.
"While Sen. Menendez enjoys the presumption of innocence until proven guilty and will have his day in court to defend himself, I believe it’s best for his constituents, the American people, and our national security for the Senator to step down,” Baldwin said.
The indictment charges that Menendez and his wife, Nadine, accepted “hundreds of thousands of dollars” in bribes in return for his influence to benefit three New Jersey businessmen and the Egyptian government.
Prosecutors said investigators found $480,000 in cash hidden around his home, some of it in envelopes that “contained the fingerprints and/or DNA” of one of the people charged with bribing him or that person’s driver. They also said Menendez and his wife were bribed with a luxury car, exercise equipment, home furnishings and “over one hundred thousand dollars’ worth of gold bars.”
Menendez and his wife have both denied wrongdoing. In his remarks Monday, he said that the cash was his and that he had been withdrawing thousands of dollars from his savings account for decades in case of "emergencies."
“All I humbly ask for in this moment, in my colleagues in Congress, the elected leaders and the advocates of New Jersey that I have worked with for years, as well as each person who calls New Jersey home, is to pause and allow for all the facts to be presented,” Menendez said in his remarks, in which he also predicted he would be cleared of the charges and “still will be New Jersey’s senior senator.”
The first of his colleagues to ask him to step down was Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., on Saturday. Casey, the state's senior senator, joined him Tuesday.
“Public service is a sacred trust. The specific allegations set forth in the federal indictment indicate to me that Senator Menendez violated that trust repeatedly," Casey said.
Menendez also faces calls to resign from numerous local officials, including Gov. Phil Murphy, and from Democrats in the House, including former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
Rep. Andy Kim, D-N.J., announced over the weekend that he would challenge Menendez for his seat.
A spokesman for Fetterman, Joe Calvello, said Monday that Fetterman would return the $5,000 in donations Menendez gave to his 2022 campaign “in envelopes stuffed with $100 bills.”
