Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) will resign effective Aug. 20 following his conviction Tuesday for accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes.
Menendez submitted his resignation to the Senate on Tuesday.
Menendez’s plan to resign was initially reported by the New Jersey Globe and The Washington Post. The senator’s office did not immediately return HuffPost’s request for comment.
Menendez was found guilty of all 16 counts against him Tuesday at his federal corruption trial for accepting bribes of gold and cash from several New Jersey businessmen. The trial also found he was acting as a foreign agent for the Egyptian government.
In an indictment in the Southern District of New York, unsealed in September, the senator was found to have taken bribes including $100,000 in gold bars and $480,000 in cash in return for official acts aiding an Egyptian American businessman and the Egyptian government.
Screenshot/U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York
A search of the senator’s home by federal agents revealed cash stashed in clothing bearing Menendez’s name, along with gold bars elsewhere in the residence.
Investigators also found that in October 2021, the senator conducted a web search asking “how much is one kilo of gold worth” and then later searched “kilo of gold price.”
U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York.
Menendez’s resignation will come after 44 Senate Democrats called on him to step down or risk getting expelled.
“In light of this guilty verdict, Senator Menendez must now do what is right for his constituents, the Senate, and our country, and resign,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said minutes after Menendez was found guilty.
Hours after the bombshell indictment last year, Menendez stepped down as chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Menendez was previously indicted on bribery charges in 2015 for allegedly attempting to help a doctor accused of committing Medicare fraud. In 2017, his trial ended with a deadlocked jury.
Menendez faces up to decades in prison when he is sentenced on Oct. 29.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.