Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has joined the calls for Bob Menendez to resign, after the Democratic US senator from New Jersey was charged with accepting gold bars, a Mercedes-Benz and other gifts as bribes.
Speaking on Sunday, Ocasio-Cortez said the charges against Menendez were “extremely serious” and he should step down.
A growing number of Democrats are calling for Menendez, who has represented New Jersey in the Senate since 2006, to resign.
Menendez is accused of using his position to aid Egypt’s authoritarian government and pressuring federal prosecutors to drop a case against a friend.
Over the weekend, John Fetterman became the first US Senate Democrat to suggest Menendez should quit, while a Democratic New Jersey congressman announced he would run against Menendez in next year’s primary election.
Asked about Menendez on CBS’s Face the Nation, Ocasio-Cortez said:
“The situation is quite unfortunate, but I do believe that it is in the best interest for Senator Menendez to resign in this moment.
“Consistency matters. It shouldn’t matter if it’s a Republican or a Democrat. The details in this indictment are extremely serious. They involve the nature of not just his but all of our seats in Congress.”
Ocasio-Cortez’s remarks on Menendez came after she had previously called for a federal investigation into Clarence Thomas, the conservative supreme court justice, over his acceptance of undeclared gifts from wealthy rightwing donors.
In August, ProPublica reported that Thomas had taken “at least 38” undeclared vacations funded by billionaires and accepted gifts including expensive sports tickets.
Ocasio-Cortez had also previously called on Republican congressman George Santos to step down after he was indicted earlier this year for fraud, money laundering and other federal charges.
Fetterman was another high-profile progressive who had called for Menendez’s resignation.
“He’s entitled to the presumption of innocence under our system, but he is not entitled to continue to wield influence over national policy, especially given the serious and specific nature of the allegations,” Fetterman, of Pennsylvania, said in a statement on Saturday.
“I hope he chooses an honorable exit and focuses on his trial.”
Menendez denied the charges against him. In a statement on Friday he said: “I am not going anywhere.”
But that has not stopped a burgeoning movement calling for his departure.
Since then, Phil Murphy, the Democratic governor of New Jersey, joined the calls for Menendez to resign.
Murphy would be in charge of appointing a replacement for Menendez if the senator leaves office. The replacement would be in office until a special election is held.
Also on Sunday, Josh Gottheimer, a Democratic New Jersey congressman, repeated his previous call for Menendez to quit.
“I called on him, given the gravity of the charges, to step aside,” Gottheimer told CNN.
“Given how we’ve got elections coming up, there’s a lot of distractions; obviously giving the senator time to defend himself, I think what’s best is that he step aside and we focus on issues.”
Menendez has been charged with accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes, in connection with alleged intervention on behalf of Egypt, and in allegedly pressuring federal prosecutors to drop a case against a friend.
The indictment against Menendez alleged that he and his wife were paid a series of bribes by three New Jersey businessmen in exchange for corrupt acts. FBI agents investigating Menendez discovered “a lot of gold”, allegedly provided by businessman Fred Daibes, in the senator’s home, as well as about $500,000 in cash.
Some of the money was “stuffed into envelopes and closets”, and some was “stuffed in the senator’s jacket pockets”, the FBI said.
On Saturday, the Democratic New Jersey congressman Andy Kim said he would run against Menendez in the 2024 primary election.
“After calls to resign, Senator Menendez said: ‘I am not going anywhere,’” Kim said in a statement.
“As a result, I feel compelled to run against him. This is not something I expected to do, but I believe New Jersey deserves better. We cannot jeopardize the Senate or compromise our country’s integrity.
“I believe it’s time we restore faith in our democracy, and that’s why I am stepping up and running for Senate.”
