New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Murphy hasn’t called on Bob Menendez to resign
Faced with allegations of bribery and political corruption against a Democratic colleague, Connecticut’s two U.S. senators have not joined in with the chorus of voices calling for the resignation of New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez.
Menendez, a three-term member of the Senate and leader of the chamber’s Foreign Relations Committee, is accused of using his position to enrich himself with hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and gold bars. On Friday, federal officials announced that he would be charged with bribery, fraud and extortion.
Over the weekend, Menendez was urged to resign by members of New Jersey’s congressional delegation and the state’s Democratic governor, Phil Murphy.
While members of the Senate had been more restrained in their comments, by Tuesday morning six of the chamber’s Democrats had publicly called for Menendez to step aside. While most of those lawmakers represent swing or Republican-leaning states, they were joined on Tuesday by the other U.S. senator from New Jersey, Cory Booker.
During an appearance on MSNBC Sunday morning, Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy responded to a question about the allegations with the assertion that he needed more time to review the charges with his fellow senators.
“I want to get back to the Senate and huddle with my colleagues before I make a recommendation,” Murphy told the show’s host, Jonathan Capehart. “But let’s be clear, these are devastating allegations. No senator should be trading on their position in order to enrich themselves. It is hard for me to believe that Sen. Menendez can be effective in his job given these accusations.”
Murphy added that he had yet to speak to Menendez since the charges were handed down Friday.
Connecticut’s other U.S. senator, Democrat Richard Blumenthal, was observing Yom Kippur on Monday, a high holy day in the Jewish faith, and was unable to comment, according to a spokeswoman.
For his part, Menendez has rebuffed calls for his resignation and denied all of the allegations of wrongdoing by federal prosecutors.
“To those who have rushed to judgment, you have done so based on a limited set of facts, framed by the prosecution to be as salacious as possible,” Menendez said during a televised press conference Monday.
“Remember, prosecutors get it wrong sometimes, sadly I know that.”
Menendez faced similar allegations of bribery in a federal corruption case brought against him and other defendants in 2015, though a jury later deadlocked at trial, and the Justice Department dropped the case after a federal judge dismissed several of the charges.
The latest set of allegations focus in part on Menendez’s relationship with a New Jersey businessman who held exclusive contracts with the Egyptian government to export halal meat, and accuse the senator and his wife of using his position on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to benefit the businessman and the government of Egypt in exchange for bribes.
Menendez was temporarily removed from his post on the committee Friday as a result of the charges, in accordance with the rules set by Senate Democrats.
Murphy, who also sits on the committee, has been a vocal critic of Egypt’s human rights record and has supported efforts to withhold military aid from the country. During his press conference on Monday, Menendez also sought to portray himself as someone who sought greater accountability from Egypt’s leaders, even while having signed off on billions in arms sales to the country.
Both Murphy and Blumenthal have received thousands of dollars in campaign contributions in recent years from Menendez’s political action committee, New Millennium PAC, according to campaign finance records.