Former House speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Monday night that it would likely be best if indicted Sen Bob Menendez would resign.
The former speaker appeared on Inside with Jen Psaki where the former Biden administration press secretary asked about Mr Menendez’s indictment and the fact that numerous New Jersey Democrats called on Mr Menendez to resign.
“I respect their position that they are taking, and the charges are formidable,” she said. She noted that in the House, many Democrats have called on New York Republican Rep George Santos to resign after he was indicted.
“Right now, sadly, because of the challenges that we face, because the skepticism exists in our country about governance about this Republican Party that doesn’t believe in governance,” she said. “We’ve gotta stay focused on that. And for that reason, it would probably be a good idea if he did resign.”
A grand jury indicted the New Jersey Democratic senator on Friday and charged him with bribery and corruption. The indictment said the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and his wife Nadine Menendez enjoyed a “corrupt relationship” with New Jersey real estate developer Fred Daibes and his associated Wael Hana and Jose Uribe.
Authorities seized more than $100,000 worth of gold bars and $480,000 in cash, most of which was stuffed into envelopes or clothing.
Since then, much of New Jersey’s Democratic congressional delegation and the state’s Democratic Gov Phil Murphy have called on Mr Menendez to resign. Rep Andy Kim announced he would run against Mr Menendez next year in the Democratic primary.
So far, six Democratic Senators – including Sens Jon Tester of Montana, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, Peter Welch of Vermont, Sherrod Brown of Ohio and John Fetterman and Bob Casey of Pennsylvania – have called for Mr Menendez to resign from the Senate.
But Mr Menendez delivered a defiant address on Monday saying he would not resign from his Senate seat. He explained that the money seized was “withdrawn thousands of dollars in cash from my personal savings account.” He added that prosecutors made the case as “salacious as possible”.
