Will there be a garage sale?
U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, who has repeatedly defied calls for his resignation after his sweeping corruption charges six months ago, announced Thursday he will not run in the Democratic primary for re-election. But the New Jersey senator said he might run as an independent candidate in the fall after his “exoneration.”
“I will not file for the Democratic primary this June. I am hopeful that my exoneration will take place this summer and allow me to pursue my candidacy as an independent Democrat in the general election,” Menendez said in a nine-minute video.
At least one of his Democratic colleagues doesn’t believe he’ll return to Congress and covets one of Menendez’s perks.
“Dibs on your parking space,” U.S. Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvanis posted on Twitter over the video of Menendez making his announcement.
Leading Democrat makes motion to impeach Biden
Hillary Clinton says the unthinkable
Liz Cheney announces her latest plan to keep Trump out of White House
Biden has a new Trump joke he’s telling (and it’s legit funny)
In January, Fetterman — one of the first Democrats to demand Menendez’s resignation — dared Menendez to run for re-election and said he should not have access to classified documents. Fetterman has proposed a resolution that would prohibit senators charged with certain criminal offenses — including acting as a foreign agent — from receiving classified information.
“He has the right to have his day in court, absolutely,” Fetterman said, “but he doesn’t have the right to necessarily be a senator, and he definitely doesn’t have the right to be in classified briefings that involve nations that he is now credibly accused of being a foreign agent of. It’s outrageous and I truly can’t understand why anybody would be okay with that.”
Menendez’s political career began more than 40 years ago when he beat the Hudson County machine to become mayor of Union City. He was later elected to the state Assembly and state Senate, followed by his election in November 1992 to the U.S. House of Representatives. He was appointed to the U.S. Senate in 2006.
Menendez, 70, had been silent about whether he would mount a bid for a fourth term. First, he must face his legal troubles.
Menendez was charged, along with his wife Nadine, originally was charged with taking bribes that included gold bars, envelopes stuffed with cash and a $60,000 Mercedes-Benz C-300 convertible, in return for his influence to benefit friends and allies.
Earlier this month, prosecutors piled on more charges, and Menendez now faces 18 criminal counts that include bribery, extortion, conspiracy to act as a foreign agent, wire fraud and obstruction of justice.
His trial is scheduled to begin in May. The deadline for independents to enter the race is June 4.
NJ Advance Media staff writers Brent Johnson and Ted Sherman contributed to this report.
Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting us with a subscription.
