U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey plans to resign after being found guilty in a wide-ranging corruption scheme, according to two sources familiar with his decision.
The Associated Press reported Menendez’s resignation is effective Aug. 20. A spokesperson for the senator declined to comment.
An adviser to New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said he will move expeditiously to fill Menendez’s vacant seat once he leaves office.
The move comes just a week after Menendez became the first senator ever convicted of acting as a foreign agent. During the trial, prosecutors introduced evidence that Menendez traded on his influence, did favors for Egypt’s government and tried to help two New Jersey businessmen under criminal investigations in exchange for bribes — including gold bars, a Mercedes-Benz convertible and hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash. Jurors deliberated for less than two full days before reaching their verdict.
The Senate ethics committee quickly began an investigation following the verdict, and Murphy called on Menendez to be expelled from the Senate if he did not resign.
Now the governor will appoint a Democrat to fill the seat until January, when the candidate who wins the November election will take office. The Democratic caucus has a narrow 51-49 majority in the Senate, giving the governor a strong incentive to act quickly.
New Jersey Democratic Rep. Andy Kim, who ran an anti-corruption primary campaign for the Senate, is considered the frontrunner to win the general election in November and take the seat that Menendez has held since 2006. A Republican has not won election to the Senate in New Jersey in half a century.
Menendez sat out this year’s Democratic primary race for his seat but had filed to run as an independent. After the verdict, he ducked reporters’ questions about whether he might step down or mount a campaign.
Menendez has said he plans to appeal the verdict.
“I have never been anything but a patriot of my country and for my country,” he said when leaving the courthouse last week. “I have never ever been a foreign agent.”
Charles Lane contributed reporting.