(HorizonPost.com) – The Senate Ethics Committee announced on Monday that the committee members unanimously voted to review allegations that New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez violated Senate rules, which could lead to disciplinary action against the embattled Democrat after he was convicted earlier this month by a Manhattan jury.
Menendez, who was found guilty on July 16 on 16 counts of bribery and illegally acting as a foreign agent on behalf of Egypt, has stymied his Democrat colleagues in the Senate for refusing to voluntarily step down in light of his conviction. Some Democrats responded to the guilty verdict by suggesting that the Senate should vote to expel Menendez if he refused to resign.
Menendez’s term expires in January and Democrats in New Jersey have already chosen Democrat Rep. Andy Kim as their nominee to run in November for Menendez’s seat.
Just minutes after the jury delivered its verdict, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called on Menendez to resign his seat. New Jersey’s Democrat Governor Phil Murphy called on the Senate to expel the senator if he refused to step down.
The Ethics Committee said in its July 22 statement that once the review was complete, it would “move expeditiously” to submit its findings to the Senate, along with “any recommendations for disciplinary action.”
With the pressure mounting and a possible expulsion looming, a source told the Associated Press on Tuesday that Senator Menendez has decided to resign from office effective August 20, however, the decision had yet to be made public.
Menendez, who maintained after his conviction that he was innocent of the charges, vowed to appeal the verdict.
If Menendez does resign next month, it would allow Governor Murphy to appoint an interim senator to serve out the remainder of his term. Democrats in New Jersey have urged Murphy to name Rep. Andy Kim as Menendez’s replacement, a move Rep. Kim said he would happily accept.
Kim faces off in November against Republican Senate nominee Curtis Bashaw.
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