New Jersey Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez will not step down despite calls for his resignation after he was hit with federal corruption charges related to an alleged years-long bribery scheme.
Sen. Bob Menendez will not step down despite calls for his resignation after he was hit with federal corruption charges related to an alleged years-long bribery scheme, the New Jersey Democrat announced Friday.
“Those who believe in justice believe in innocence until proven guilty,” Menendez, 69, 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. This is the same record of success these very same leaders have lauded all along.”
Menendez, who has served in the Senate since 2006, wildly claimed that his ethnicity is playing a role in calls for his ouster from the upper chamber.
“It is not lost on me how quickly some are rushing to judge a Latino and push him out of his seat,” he said.
“I am not going anywhere.”
The US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York charged Menendez and his wife, Nadine Menendez, 56, with three conspiracy counts on Friday in connection with what prosecutors call a “corrupt bribery agreement” that benefited the couple, three New Jersey businessmen and the government of Egypt.
