New Mexico’s senior senator says that U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez should resign because of his recent indictment in an alleged bribery case.
Mendendez, a Democrat from New Jersey, has faced calls to resign from a number of Democratic politicians. U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich joined those on Tuesday on a post on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter.
“The charges against Senator Menendez are serious and very troubling,” Heinrich wrote. “While he deserves a fair trial, his constituents and our nation deserve a senator solely focused on delivering for the good of our country. Senator Menendez should step aside.”
The indictment alleges that Menendez took bribes to use his influence on foreign affairs. The indictment says that Menendez received cash, a luxury car and even gold bars in exchange for favors.
Federal investigators said they recovered about $500,000 in cash stuffed in envelopes in his apartment, which they say were bribes to aid the interests of the authoritarian Egyptian government.
Menendez gave up the chairmanship of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee following the indictment, but has resisted calls for his resignation from the Senate.
The calls on Menendez to resign have come from those throughout the Democratic Party, including Cory Booker, New Jersey’s other U.S. Senator, and Phil Murphy, the governor of New Jersey.
NM Political Report reached out to New Mexico’s other U.S. Senator, Democrat Ben Ray Luján, but did not receive a response by press time.
