Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez then he will resign next month found guilty on all 16 counts in a federal bribery and corruption trial.
The New Jersey senator formally communicated his decision to Governor Phil Murphy in a letter on Tuesday.
“This is to inform you that I will be resigning as United States Senator from New Jersey, effective at the close of business on August 20, 2024,” he said. News.
He said he chose the date to “give my staff time to move on to other opportunities, pass pending constituent documents, allow for an orderly process to select an interim replacement, and to wrap up my work in the Senate.”
Murphy, a Democrat, said in a statement that he had received the letter and would “follow through on my commitment to make a temporary appointment to the United States Senate to ensure the representation that the people of New Jersey deserve.”
Two sources familiar with the matter said Tuesday that Menendez had informed some of his staff of his plans to resign. His departure date was the first informed By the New Jersey Globe.
As NBC News first reported last week, Menendez called allies to tell them he was going to do it Resign from the Senate including after being convicted by a jury on July 16 of accepting bribes gold bars and cash, for official events in favor of Qatar and Egypt. He will be sentenced on October 29 and promised to file an appeal.
Nearly every Democratic senator, as well as members of the House of Representatives and other elected officials in New Jersey, said Menendez should resign his seat, making it impossible for him to continue. Some threatened to force a vote to expel him from the Senate if he did not go voluntarily.
Menendez is also under investigation by the Senate Ethics Committee, which said in a statement Monday that it has begun a “judicial review,” a step required before a recommendation to the full Senate that the senator be fired or otherwise disciplined. The committee said it notified Menendez and his attorneys that the committee had voted unanimously to open the review.
Menendez cited the investigation as one of the reasons for his resignation. “While I intend to appeal the jury’s verdict all the way, including to the Supreme Court, I do not want the Senate to be drawn into a lengthy process that would undermine its important work,” the letter said.
Rep. Andy Kim, D-N.J., is running for Menendez’s seat in November against Republican Curtis Bashaw. There is Menendez independently nominated for re-electionsaid that he will continue the campaign if he is acquitted.
Before being elected to Congress in 1992, Menendez served as mayor of Union City, New Jersey and in the state legislature. After serving in the House of Representatives, he became a senator in 2006 and rose to the position of chairman of the powerful Foreign Relations Committee. The jury is out on whether he has shown favors to foreign governments in exchange for bribes (and as a senior member of the panel when the Senate was controlled by Republicans).
A New Jersey senator was indicted in a separate corruption case that ended in a mistrial in 2018; he also denied wrongdoing in this case.
Frank Thorpe W and Dareh Gregorian contributed.