Embattled Senator Bob Menendez rejected on Wednesday that he had decided to resign from his post following his conviction on bribery charges.
Menendez said he had not made such a decision after NBC News reported that he told allies he was going to quit. Citing three sources, the outlet said he was already calling people to notify them about his intention.
However, he told CBS News that is not the case, but stopped short of saying he will seek to stay on as a senator. "I can tell you that I have not resigned nor have I spoken to any so called allies ... Seems to me that there is an effort to try to force me into a statement. Anyone who knows me knows that's the worst way to achieve a goal with me." He had also anticipated his intention of appealing the ruling.
Menendez is facing heightened pressure within the Democratic party to step aside following the conviction. Several lawmakers had been calling on him to resign during the trial, but calls have grown exponentially after a jury found him guilty of taking bribes and acting as a foreign agent to benefit the governments of Egypt and Qatar.
Some have taken another step and said that if he should be expelled if he refuses to resign. Senators Bob Casey and Jack Rosen, from Pennsylvania and Nevada, respectively, have spoken publicly about their intention to follow these steps.
"As I said when he was charged, public service is a sacred trust and Senator Menendez has broken that trust," said Casey in a publication on X. "Now that a jury of his peers has found him guilty on all 16 charges, including acting as a foreign agent, Senator Menendez should resign or face expulsion from the Senate."
Rosen, on her end, said: "As I've already called for, I believe he should resign immediately from the U.S. Senate. If he refuses to resign, he should be expelled."
Menendez is already being investigated by the Senate Ethics Committee, which said this week it will complete the probe "promptly." The panel could recommend to expel him, a move that would need the support of at least two thirds of the chamber's 100 members.
Other top Democrats in the Senate have urged him to resign, including Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Majority Whip Dick Durbin and Menendez's fellow New Jersey Senator Cory Booker.
Should Menendez leave his post, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, a Democrat, could appoint a successor to finish the rest of his term, which finishes in January. He also called for the senator to resign and supported his expulsion.
15 senators have been expelled in American history, and the last time such decisions took place was in 1862, when a group was voted out due to their support for the Confederates in the Civil War.
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