Georgia Senators yet to weigh in on Menendez case
New Jersey Senator accused of taking bribes, luxurious gifts
Georgia’s U.S. Senators have so far not weighed in on last Friday’s shocking indictment of their New Jersey colleague.
Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock have yet to join the growing list of Democrats across the country calling for the resignation of Sen. Bob Menendez, who is accused of taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes and luxurious gifts in exchange for political influence.
The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, federal prosecutors in Manhattan also allege in the 39-page indictment that Sen. Menendez was providing classified information to Egypt’s authoritarian government. His wife was named in the indictment as well, along with three businessmen.
Senate rules required Menendez to relinquish his committee gavel while he stands trial.
Calls for Menendez’s resignation began almost immediately after the indictment was unsealed. Virtually every prominent Democrat in his home state, from the governor to nearly every member of the state’s congressional contingent and even state legislative leaders, issued statements calling on the Senator to step down.
Menendez, who previously faced corruption charges that ended with a mistrial in 2017, has denied any wrongdoing and has said that he has no plans to resign his seat, which will be on the ballot in 2024. His defiance in the wake of the charges has already drawn him a Democratic primary challenger ahead of next year’s election.
Other big-name Democrats have called for his resignation, including former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, former House Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY). So far only one Democratic U.S. Senator has explicitly called for the Senator’s resignation: Pennsylvania’s John Fetterman.
Other Democratic Senators, such as Sen. Dick Durbin (IL), have said that they are troubled by the allegations but say that they are leaving any decisions on Menendez’s political future to himself and the people of New Jersey.
Both Sens. Ossoff and Warnock have yet to issue any statement on the case. (Warnock serves with Menendez on the Banking Committee.) The two Democratic newcomers made corruption a front-and-center issue in their 2021 runoff campaigns, when they hammered their Republican opponents for reportedly making stock transactions after receiving classified COVID-19 briefings at the White House. No criminal charges were ever filed.
Emails to both Senators’ offices seeking statements had not been returned as of noon Monday.
Click here to read the full indictment against Menendez.
While the evidence seems overwhelming, everyone is innocent until proven guilty. with that said, im in total agreement with what Menendez has done up to this point.