N.J. Sen. Bob Menendez Resigns After Being Caught With Stacks Of Gold Bars In His Home

Sen. Bob Menendez’s (D-New Jersey) resignation is official as of Tuesday. This comes about a month after a jury convicted Menendez on federal bribery charges.

In a letter sent to Gov. Phil Murphy (D-New Jersey) last month, Menendez indicated his intention to step down from his Senate seat. Menendez wrote, “I do not want the Senate to be involved in a lengthy process that will detract from its important work.” In response, Murphy has stated that he will appoint a former top aide, George Helmy, to temporarily fill the vacancy.

The charges that led to Menendez’s conviction allege that he used his influence as a senator to intervene in several criminal investigations in order to protect his associates who were engaged in bribery schemes. Prosecutors claim Menendez helped one of his friends secure a multimillion-dollar deal with a Qatari investment fund, and assisted another in maintaining a contract to provide religious certification for meat exports to Egypt. Menendez was found guilty on 16 counts and will potentially face a lengthy prison sentence, which will be decided in October.

Helmy, who previously served as Menendez’s state director in the Senate, will hold the seat until the results of the November Senate election are certified. At that point, Helmy will resign and the winner of the election will be appointed to the seat.

The upcoming Senate election in New Jersey is seen as a crucial one, as Democrats currently hold a narrow majority in the chamber. Republicans have not won a Senate race in the Democratic-leaning state of New Jersey in over 50 years.

Menendez was also convicted of taking actions that benefited the Egyptian government in exchange for bribes, including providing sensitive information about personnel at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo and drafting a letter to other senators regarding the lifting of a hold on military aid to Egypt.

The 70-year-old senator has denied all of the allegations and has filed a motion seeking an acquittal and a new trial. He argues that prosecutors presented speculative evidence and violated his rights as a lawmaker to engage in protected speech and debate.

Menendez’s resignation will bring an end to a long political career that began with his election to a local school board shortly after his high school graduation. He went on to serve in the state legislature and the U.S. House of Representatives before being elected to the Senate in 2006.

This is the second time Menendez has faced a federal indictment. In 2015, he was charged with allowing a wealthy Florida eye doctor to buy his influence through luxury vacations and campaign contributions, but that case ended in a mistrial in 2017.

In court, the senator’s lawyers claimed that “intergenerational trauma” led their client to hide gold bars in his house.