Sen. Bob Menendez, the New Jersey Democrat who has served in public office for decades, will resign his Senate seat effective Aug. 20, he said in a letter addressed to Gov. Phil Murphy.
This latest development comes a week after the senator was convicted in a federal bribery case. An ending to a trial that stains a decades-long career in public office. A conviction he plans to appeal.
Below is a timeline of the rise and fall of Menendez -- from his humble beginnings in Union City to him calling it quits after a jury found him guilty of corruption.
"A quintessential American story"
1972
Menendez's story has been described by his office as "a quintessential American story." Menendez grew up as the son of Cuban immigrants in Union City, graduating in 1972 from the city's Union Hill High School.
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1974 - 1979
Just two years later, in 1974, Menendez entered the world of politics at only 19 years old, when he was elected to the Union City Board of Education. Menendez himself went on to graduate St. Peter's University in 1976 and Rutgers School of Law in 1979, both in New Jersey.
1986
In 1986, Menendez was elected as the mayor of the city that saw him grow up: Union City.
1990
Four years later, while serving in the New Jersey State Legislature, Menendez wrote the state's Bias Crimes Law, which ended up passing and serving as a national model for anti-hate laws.
1992
He was eventually elected to Congress in 1992 as a U.S. House Representative for New Jersey's 13th District.
2006
It wasn't until 2006 that the governor at that time, Jon Corzine, a democrat, selected Menendez to replace him in the Senate after he resigned when he was elected Governor of New Jersey.
2010
During his time in Congress, Menendez helped write and pass the Affordable Care Act, allowing for the expansion and reform of healthcare insurance.
2013
Menendez was also one of eight senators who wrote immigration reform legislation that passed the Senate in 2013 with bipartisan support.
That same year he spearheaded legislation to reform flood insurance following the devastation left behind by Superstorm Sandy, which severely impacted his state of New Jersey.
In 2013, he also helped secure funding for the Gateway Tunnel Project that would create a new trans-Hudson rail tunnel between New York City and New Jersey.
Menendez became the first latino to be sworn in as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
2015
Menendez fought for the passage and renewal of the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act to extend the program that gives full compensation to 9-11 survivors and first responders.
2020 - present
Menendez also helped pass the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act during the pandemic.
He is currently on the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, Senate Finance Committee as well as the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Legal issues start to mount
Menendez has the dubious distinction of being the only U.S. senator indicted twice.
2015-2017
In 2015, he was charged with letting a wealthy Florida eye doctor buy his influence through luxury vacations and campaign contributions. After a jury couldn’t reach a unanimous verdict in 2017, New Jersey federal prosecutors dropped the case rather than put him on trial again.
Voters accepted the mistrial as an exoneration and returned Menendez to the Senate.
2023 - present
After his second indictment last summer, Menendez claimed he was being persecuted, saying some people “cannot accept that a first-generation Latino American from humble beginnings could rise to be a U.S. Senator.”
Menendez was found guilty by a jury last week on all 16 counts he faced in his federal corruption trial, including charges of bribery and conspiracy for a public official to act as a foreign agent.
The jury’s verdict followed a nine-week trial in which prosecutors said the Democrat abused the power of his office to protect allies from criminal investigations and enrich associates, including his wife, through acts that included meeting with Egyptian intelligence officials and helping that country access millions of dollars in U.S. military aid. He had also been accused of accepting bribes of gold and cash from three businessmen in New Jersey.
Menendez, 70, did not testify. He insisted publicly he was only doing his job as the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He said the gold bars found in his New Jersey home by the FBI belonged to his wife.
I have never been anything but a patriot of my country and for my country.
Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ)
"Obviously I am deeply, deeply disappointed by the jury's decision," Sen. Menendez said outside the courthouse after the verdict was read. Menendez and his lawyers vowed to appeal as they left the courthouse.
"I have never violated my public oath," the senator said. "I have never been anything but a patriot of my country and for my country. I have never, ever been a foreign agent, and the decision rendered by the jury today would put at risk every member of the United States Senate in terms of what they think a foreign agent would be."
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams of the Southern District of New York said the case was always about "shocking levels of corruption."
"This wasn’t politics as usual; this was politics for profit. Because Senator Menendez has now been found guilty, his years of selling his office to the highest bidder have finally come to an end," Williams said.
The judge said sentencing will take place for the three defendants, including Menendez, on Oct. 29 — a week before Election Day, though the conviction potentially dooms Menendez’s chances of winning reelection as an independent.
