(TRENTON, NJ) – U.S. Senator Bob Menendez will resign on Aug. 20 following his conviction for accepting bribes for corrupt acts, including acting as an agent of the Egyptian government, he wrote in a letter to the New Jersey governor obtained by The Associated Press .
Menendez insisted after the July 16 verdict that he was innocent and on Tuesday in his letter promised to appeal “all the way,” including to the Supreme Court, he wrote to fellow Democrat Gov. Phil Murphy. The roughly one-month delay in leaving gives his team time for an orderly transition, Menendez wrote.
He did not mention the federal conviction in the letter, but cited his work helping victims of Superstorm Sandy and securing transit funding, among other items, and addressed the governor directly, reminding him that he once praised Menendez — before ask for his resignation.
“These successes have led you, Governor, to call me an ‘indispensable senator,’” he wrote.
The Senate has received a copy of Menendez’s resignation letter, according to Sen. Peter Welch of Vermont, who presided over the chamber on Tuesday.
The resignation gives Murphy the ability to nominate someone to the Senate for the remainder of Menendez’s term, which expires Jan. 3. The vacancy was already scheduled for election on November 5th. strong position in the democratic-leaning state. He faces Republican Curtis Bashaw.
Menéndez, 70, was convicted of selling the power of his office to three New Jersey businessmen seeking various favors. Prosecutors said Menéndez used his influence to meddle in three different state and federal criminal investigations to protect his associates. They said he helped a bribe-paying friend secure a multimillion-dollar deal with a Qatari investment fund and another secure a contract to provide religious certification for meat destined for Egypt.
He was also convicted of carrying out actions that benefited Egypt’s government in exchange for bribes, including providing details about US embassy staff in Cairo and writing a letter to fellow senators about lifting the suspension of military aid to Egypt. FBI agents found stacks of gold bars and $480,000 in cash hidden in Menendez’s home.
After his conviction, Menendez denied all of these accusations, saying “I have never been anything but a patriot of my country and for my country. I have never, ever been a foreign agent.”
But several Democratic colleagues called on him to resign, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. Murphy urged the Senate to expel Menéndez if he did not resign. Only 15 senators were expelled. Senator William Blount of Tennessee was deposed in 1797 for treason. The other 14 were expelled in 1861 and 1862 for supporting the Confederates during the Civil War.
Menéndez faces the possibility of spending decades in prison. A judge set his sentencing for October 29, a week before the election.
His resignation ends a career in politics that began with him being elected to the local school board just a few years after high school graduation. He has held office at every level in his home state and has pledged to run as an independent in November for a fourth term.
The son of Cuban immigrants and a lawyer by training, Menendez was a member of the school board of Union City, New Jersey, at age 20 – before earning a law degree – and later became mayor of the city, where he still maintains deep connections.
His own biography says he wanted to fight corruption early in his political career, testifying against Union City officials and building a reputation as a tough guy. From there, he was elected to the state Assembly and then the state Senate before moving on to the U.S. House.
He was appointed U.S. senator in 2006 when the vacancy opened after incumbent Jon Corzine became governor. He was elected in 2006 and again in 2012 and 2018. He served as chairman of the influential Senate Foreign Relations Committee starting in 2013.
Menéndez’s political career appeared to be over in 2015, when he was indicted in New Jersey on charges that he accepted bribes for luxury foreign vacations, private jet trips and campaign contributions from a wealthy Florida ophthalmologist, Salomon Melgen.
In return, prosecutors said Menéndez lobbied government officials on Melgen’s behalf over an $8.9 million Medicare billing dispute and a stalled contract to supply port screening equipment in the Dominican Republic. They said he also helped obtain U.S. visas for the doctor’s girlfriends.
The defense argued that the gifts were not bribes, but symbols of friendship between two men who were “like brothers.”
The jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict, resulting in a mistrial in 2017. US prosecutors did not request a new trial.
New Jersey voters returned Menendez to the Senate for another term. Melgen was convicted in a separate fraud trial, but his 17-year prison sentence was later commuted by then-President Donald Trump.
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Jalonick reported from Washington.
This story originally appeared on Time.com read the full story
