Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey introduced on Thursday that he wouldn’t run for re-election as a Democrat this yr, bowing to intense political strain and federal fees that place him on the heart of a global bribery scheme.
However in a nine-minute video posted on social media, Mr. Menendez, 70, insisted he could be exonerated at a trial scheduled to start in Could and he left the door open to operating as a political unbiased if he’s cleared.
“I’m hopeful that my exoneration will happen this summer time and permit me to pursue my candidacy as an unbiased Democrat within the basic election,” he stated.
Nonetheless, Mr. Menendez’s resolution to forgo the competitors for his occasion’s nomination amounted to a painful concession that his political profession was teetering on the sting.
He was all however sure to lose the June main for his personal seat. Practically each Democratic ally has deserted him in current months, and two outstanding Democrats — Consultant Andy Kim and Tammy Murphy, the spouse of Gov. Philip D. Murphy — are trouncing him in main polls.
“Sadly, the current accusations I’m going through — of which I’m harmless and can show so — won’t enable me to have that type of political dialogue and debate with political opponents who’ve already made it a cornerstone of their marketing campaign,” he stated within the video on Thursday.
A marketing campaign as an unbiased is unlikely to be a lot simpler, even when he had been to prevail in courtroom. It might additionally jeopardize Democrats’ already tenuous maintain on the Senate.
Though polls present that as many as three quarters of New Jersey voters consider Mr. Menendez is responsible of the fees in opposition to him, he might nonetheless siphon sufficient votes from the Democratic nominee to tip a detailed race.
Even simply preserving the likelihood within the brief run, although, permits Mr. Menendez to proceed elevating cash to pay the legal professionals representing him and his spouse, Nadine Menendez.
He had already spent $2.3 million from his marketing campaign account on authorized charges from October via December, federal filings present. He has spent a minimum of $295,000 extra from a separate authorized protection fund. These prices are more likely to spike within the weeks forward as his trial approaches.
Mr. Menendez’s authorized troubles have been a nonstop distraction since September when he and Ms. Menendez had been charged in an elaborate bribery scheme. Hours earlier than Mr. Menendez’s announcement, his spouse appeared in federal courtroom in Manhattan for a listening to on whether or not her legal professionals could be precluded from representing her at trial due to a possible battle of curiosity.
Mr. Menendez’s daughter, Alicia Menendez, a information anchor on MSNBC, was on the air, filling in because the host of “Deadline: White Home,” when particulars about her father’s announcement started to unfold.
Mr. Menendez’s announcement was the newest twist within the slow-motion collapse of a person who simply six months in the past was seen as among the many strongest political figures in New Jersey and a number one nationwide voice on international coverage and immigration points.
Mr. Menendez successfully outran the regulation for many years as he rose from mayor of his hometown, Union Metropolis, to one of many nation’s first Cuban American members of Congress. He prevented fees in a single federal prison inquiry. Then, after being indicted in 2015 on separate bribery fees, he prevented conviction two years later when the trial resulted in a hung jury and the federal government dropped the case after the decide dismissed essentially the most critical fees.
The case was pricey nonetheless. Mr. Menendez spent greater than $5 million on legal professionals, and a little-known challenger acquired practically 40 p.c of the vote within the Democratic main the subsequent yr. Get together leaders rallied behind Mr. Menendez within the basic election, and he defeated his well-funded Republican opponent, Bob Hugin, by 11 proportion factors.
Mr. Menendez insisted that historical past might repeat itself when federal prosecutors in Manhattan initiated the newest spherical of fees in September. However longtime allies who had stood by him via his earlier travails concluded that this case was completely different and minimize their ties to him.
In July, earlier than the fees had been introduced, John F.X. Graham, a New Jersey insurance coverage govt and member of the Democratic Nationwide Committee, donated $10,000 to Mr. Menendez’s protection fund.
However Mr. Graham stated in an interview this week that he felt “betrayed and upset” after the small print of the federal government’s case in opposition to Mr. Menendez emerged.
He stated he had advised Mr. Menendez’s fund-raising marketing consultant that he would by no means once more contribute. In response, he stated he acquired a handwritten observe from the senator assuring him he would “beat this factor.”
“Bob Menendez’s profession is over,” stated Mr. Graham, who believes Mr. Menendez ought to resign. “It’s that easy and he simply hasn’t admitted it to himself but.”
An preliminary indictment final fall stated Mr. Menendez and his spouse had conspired with others to just accept gold bars, a Mercedes-Benz convertible and different lavish bribes in change for utilizing his place as chairman of the Senate Overseas Relations Committee to help a international energy, Egypt, and throttle two prison investigations in New Jersey.
The charging papers included pictures of the gold, wads of money and the Mercedes, all of which had been discovered throughout a search of the senator’s house.
Within the months since then, prosecutors have added greater than a dozen fees, accusing Mr. Menendez and his spouse of plotting to have him act as a international agent, taking steps to help one other international nation, Qatar, and obstructing justice.
The couple and two different defendants have pleaded not responsible to all counts. However a fifth defendant, a former New Jersey insurance coverage dealer, pleaded responsible this month to making an attempt to bribe the couple with the Mercedes. In a setback for the senator’s protection, the previous dealer, Jose Uribe, has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.
Mr. Menendez, a talented and pugnacious political fighter, has accused these prosecutors of being overzealous and making an attempt to smear him, making his case on to fellow senators and voters. His legal professionals argue that the indictment criminalizes regular legislative exercise and flouts constitutional protections afforded to members of Congress.
These arguments could prevail in courtroom, however they’ve had little impact on the voters, Democratic officers and even some members of his personal workers who would have helped decide his political destiny.
Practically 75 p.c of New Jersey voters disapprove of Mr. Menendez’s Senate efficiency, a current Monmouth College ballot discovered — roughly the identical proportion that take into account him responsible.
In Washington, Mr. Menendez has been urged to resign by greater than half of the Senate’s Democrats. His longtime political adviser and a few key congressional workers members give up.
Again at house, if he stays on the poll in November, he’ll most probably face both Mr. Kim or Ms. Murphy, who’re locked in a extremely aggressive race for the Democratic nomination.
There are a number of Republican main contenders, together with a mayor and a former tv reporter, each of whom have endorsed former President Donald J. Trump because the occasion’s standard-bearer this yr, and a lodge developer from the Jersey Shore who has been important of Mr. Trump.