Cory Booker speaks: Bob Menendez should resign from Senate following indictment

Sen. Cory Booker on Tuesday called for his New Jersey counterpart and friend, Sen. Bob Menendez, to resign, four days after Menendez was indicted for allegedly accepting bribes.

“Stepping down is not an admission of guilt but an acknowledgment that holding public office often demands tremendous sacrifices at great personal cost. Senator Menendez has made these sacrifices in the past to serve. And in this case he must do so again. I believe stepping down is best for those Senator Menendez has spent his life serving,” Booker said in a statement.

Booker is the latest in a growing group of federal lawmakers pushing for Menendez to step down, but he is to this point the most significant voice to speak up. He has been close to Menendez since joining the Senate a decade ago and testified in his favor at his corruption trial in 2017, which ended in a hung jury.

Booker's call may also clear the way for other senators to join his call and reach a critical mass of pressure on Menendez, who is up for reelection next year, to leave public office.

Menendez, a fellow Democrat from New Jersey, and his wife were indicted on Friday for allegedly accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes, gold bars, and mortgage payments as bribes. The bribes were allegedly used to influence his position as the chair of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee to benefit the government of Egypt.

While the rest of the New Jersey delegation released statements over the weekend — many calling for his resignation — Booker was noticeably silent. Rep. Andy Kim, who was the first House member to call for Menendez’s resignation, announced a Senate bid Saturday to unseat Menendez.

Meanwhile, Menendez has continued to assure he is innocent. He claimed cash found in his house was from his own savings accounts during a press event on Monday, but did not acknowledge the gold bars or take any press questions. He did not say whether he would run for reelection in 2024, but he insisted he would not step down.

The four-day silence from the normally chatty Booker was noticeable, especially in the online world he frequents. But Booker is also in a unique position. The two work closely together as the two senators representing New Jersey in Washington, D.C. He has supported Menendez in the past and Booker appeared as a character witness in his last corruption trial, calling him “honorable” and “trustworthy."

“It’s almost an understatement to say he was just a partner,” Booker said at the trial.

In a fairly lengthy statement, Booker echoed his praise of Menendez from the 2017 trail, saying he's witnessed Menendez's "extraordinary work and boundless work ethic." But he said the allegations against Menendez were shocking and difficult to reconcile with the person he's served alongside for so many years.

Like other New Jersey Democrats, Booker said Menendez deserves the presumption of innocence and should be judged at trial.

"There is, however, another higher standard for public officials, one not of criminal law but of common ideals. As Senators, we operate in the public trust. That trust is essential to our ability to do our work and perform our duties for our constituents," Booker said in his statement. “The details of the allegations against Senator Menendez are of such a nature that the faith and trust of New Jerseyans as well as those he must work with in order to be effective have been shaken to the core."

Prior to Booker’s announcement, Sen. John Fetterman (D-Penn.) was the first senator to call for Menendez to resign. Several other senators, including Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), also said Menendez should resign, and Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi joined in Monday night.

The last Democratic senator to face calls to resign was Minnesota's Al Franken following reports of sexual assault. Booker joined over thirty other Democratic senators in calling for Franken’s resignation.

However, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Franken’s Minnesota counterpart at the time, did not call for his resignation or comment. Instead, Klobuchar responded by referring to Franken’s scheduled announcement the next day, which is where he would ultimately announce his resignation.