Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey introduced on Thursday that he wouldn’t run for re-election as a Democrat this yr, bowing to intense political stress and federal expenses that place him on the middle of a global bribery scheme.
However in a nine-minute video posted on social media, Mr. Menendez, 70, reiterated that he wouldn’t resign and left the door open to working as a political unbiased if he’s exonerated at a trial scheduled for Might.
“I’m hopeful that my exoneration will happen this summer time and permit me to pursue my candidacy as an unbiased Democrat within the normal election,” he mentioned.
Nonetheless, Mr. Menendez’s resolution to forgo the competitors for his social gathering’s nomination amounted to a painful concession, after months of close to complete defiance, that his political profession was teetering on the sting.
He was all however sure to lose the June main for his personal seat. Practically each Democratic ally has deserted him in current months, and two outstanding Democrats — Consultant Andy Kim and Tammy Murphy, the spouse of Gov. Philip D. Murphy — are trouncing him in main polls.
The video included a prolonged and somber recitation of his legislative victories and management after catastrophic occasions like Hurricane Sandy and Sept. 11, as if conscious that he was working out of possibilities to remind constituents of his many years of service in Washington.
“Sadly, the current accusations I’m dealing with — of which I’m harmless and can show so — won’t enable me to have that form of political dialogue and debate with political opponents who’ve already made it a cornerstone of their marketing campaign,” he mentioned within the video on Thursday.
A marketing campaign as an unbiased towards his personal social gathering’s political group is unlikely to be any simpler, even when he had been to prevail in courtroom. It might additionally jeopardize Democrats’ already tenuous maintain on the Senate if he siphons votes from the Democratic nominee in a detailed race.
Mr. Menendez has till early June to resolve whether or not to formally pursue an unbiased marketing campaign. However former allies speculated that his motivation for preserving that chance might have as a lot to do together with his authorized struggle because it does with politics: Remaining a possible candidate permits him to proceed elevating cash to pay the legal professionals representing him and his spouse, Nadine Menendez.
The senator had already spent $2.3 million from his marketing campaign account on authorized charges from October by way of December, federal filings present. He has spent a minimum of $295,000 extra from a separate authorized protection fund. These prices are prone to spike within the weeks forward as his trial approaches.
Mr. Menendez’s authorized troubles have been a nonstop distraction since September when he and Ms. Menendez had been charged in an elaborate bribery scheme. Hours earlier than Mr. Menendez’s announcement, his spouse appeared in federal courtroom in Manhattan for a listening to on whether or not her legal professionals could be precluded from representing her at trial due to a possible battle of curiosity.
Mr. Menendez’s daughter, Alicia Menendez, a information anchor on MSNBC, was on the air, filling in because the host of “Deadline: White Home,” when particulars about her father’s announcement started to unfold.
It was the most recent twist within the slow-motion collapse of a person who simply six months in the past was seen as among the many strongest political figures in New Jersey and a number one nationwide voice on international coverage and immigration points.
Mr. Menendez successfully outran the regulation for many years as he rose from mayor of his hometown, Union Metropolis, to one of many nation’s first Cuban American members of Congress. He averted expenses in a single federal legal inquiry. Then, after being indicted in 2015 on separate bribery expenses, he averted conviction two years later when the trial resulted in a hung jury and the federal government dropped the case after the decide dismissed probably the most severe expenses.
The case was expensive nonetheless. Mr. Menendez spent greater than $5 million on legal professionals, and a little-known challenger received almost 40 p.c of the vote within the Democratic main the subsequent yr. Celebration leaders rallied behind Mr. Menendez within the normal election, and he defeated his well-funded Republican opponent, Bob Hugin, by 11 share factors.
Mr. Menendez insisted that historical past might repeat itself when federal prosecutors in Manhattan initiated the most recent spherical of expenses in September. However longtime allies who had stood by him by way of his earlier travails concluded that this case was totally different and minimize their ties to him.
In July, earlier than the costs had been introduced, John F.X. Graham, a New Jersey insurance coverage govt and member of the Democratic Nationwide Committee, donated $10,000 to Mr. Menendez’s protection fund.
However Mr. Graham mentioned in an interview this week that he felt “betrayed and upset” after the small print of the federal government’s case towards Mr. Menendez emerged.
He mentioned he had instructed Mr. Menendez’s fund-raising advisor that he would by no means once more contribute. In response, he mentioned he received a handwritten word from the senator assuring him he would “beat this factor.”
“Bob Menendez’s profession is over,” mentioned Mr. Graham, who believes Mr. Menendez ought to resign. “It’s that easy and he simply hasn’t admitted it to himself but.”
An preliminary indictment final fall mentioned Mr. Menendez and his spouse had conspired with others to simply accept gold bars, a Mercedes-Benz convertible and different lavish bribes in trade for utilizing his place as chairman of the Senate International Relations Committee to help a international energy, Egypt, and throttle two legal investigations in New Jersey.
The charging papers included photographs of the gold, wads of money and the Mercedes, all of which had been discovered throughout a search of the senator’s dwelling.
Within the months since then, prosecutors have added greater than a dozen expenses, accusing Mr. Menendez and his spouse of plotting to have him act as a international agent, taking steps to help one other international nation, Qatar, and obstructing justice.
The couple and two different defendants have pleaded not responsible to all counts. However a fifth defendant, a former New Jersey insurance coverage dealer, pleaded responsible this month to making an attempt to bribe the couple with the Mercedes. In a setback for the senator’s protection, the previous dealer, Jose Uribe, has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.
Mr. Menendez, a talented and pugnacious political fighter, has accused these prosecutors of being overzealous and making an attempt to smear him, making his case on to fellow senators and voters. His legal professionals argue that the indictment criminalizes regular legislative exercise and flouts constitutional protections afforded to members of Congress.
These arguments might prevail in courtroom, however they’ve had little impact on the voters, Democratic officers and even some members of his personal workers who would have helped decide his political destiny.
Practically 75 p.c of New Jersey voters disapprove of Mr. Menendez’s Senate efficiency, a current Monmouth College ballot discovered — roughly the identical share that think about him responsible.
In Washington, Mr. Menendez has been urged to resign by greater than half of the Senate’s Democrats. His longtime political adviser and a few key congressional workers members stop.
Again at dwelling, if he stays on the poll in November, he’ll most definitely face both Mr. Kim or Ms. Murphy, who’re locked in a extremely aggressive race for the Democratic nomination.
There are a number of Republican main contenders, together with a mayor and a former tv reporter, each of whom have endorsed former President Donald J. Trump because the social gathering’s standard-bearer this yr, and a resort developer from the Jersey Shore who has been essential of Mr. Trump.
Ms. Murphy mentioned that Mr. Menendez’s resolution to stay in workplace and, probably, within the race confirmed that he continued “to position himself forward of what’s greatest for New Jerseyans and the Democratic Celebration as an entire.”
Mr. Kim, 41, warned that Democrats’ slim majority within the Senate was “on the road,” and mentioned that he could be the stronger candidate in November ought to Mr. Menendez enter the race and draw votes from the Democratic nominee.
