Washington – Senator Bob Menendez, a Democrat from New Jersey, has decided to seek re-election as an independent federal bribery charges is on the way.
According to the New Jersey Division of Elections website, his petition to run as an independent candidate was filed Monday and had nearly 2,500 signatures. Menendez needed 800 signatures to gain access to the ballots.
Menendez announced in March that he would not run in the Democratic primary amid allegations that he used his political influence to help three New Jersey businessmen and the governments of Egypt and Qatar. In return, Menendez and his wife Nadinereceived cash, gold barsa Mercedes convertible, mortgage payments and other gifts, prosecutors said.
The three-term senator has resisted intense political pressure to resign, leaving the door open in his March announcement to run as an independent candidate if he is acquitted this summer.
“Unfortunately, the current charges I face, of which I am innocent and will prove, will not allow me to have such dialogue and debate with political opponents who have already made this the cornerstone of their campaign,” Menendez said . the time.
The filing deadline to run as an independent candidate is Tuesday, but candidates have until Aug. 16 to withdraw from the race and avoid appearing on the ballot. If Menendez were convicted before then, he could end his candidacy on time. to remove his name from the ballot.
Menendez’s trial could last another month.
Prosecutors have portrayed Menendez as a “corrupt” politician who “put his power up for sale” in pursuit of lucrative bribes, detailing a complex scheme involving a monopoly on halal meatthe Egyptian and Qatari governments and various criminal investigations.
Menendez is being tried along with two New Jersey businessmen: Wael Hana, owner of the halal meat company IS EG Halal, and Fred Daibes, a real estate developer. All three have pleaded not guilty.
A third businessman charged, Jose Uribe, pleaded guilty in March and admitted to buying Menendez’s wife a $60,000 Mercedes to influence the senator.
During Menendez’s trial, his defense attorney pinned the blame on his wife undergoing treatment for breast cancer and is expected to appear in court later this summer. Nadine Menendez kept her husband in the dark about her financial problems and dealings with businessmen, the senator’s attorney argued during opening statements. His lawyers claimed that the gold bars seized from the couple’s home belonged to Nadine Menendez, and that the senator did not have a key to the locked cabinet in which they were discovered. Nadine Menendez has also pleaded not guilty.
After the first indictment was unsealed in September, Menendez was abandoned by Democratic allies, including New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, who appeared as a character witness in Menendez’s first federal bribery trial in 2017, which ended in a mistrial.
Booker told CBS News last month that he “paid no attention” to Menendez’s potential career as an independent.
“I have called on him to resign and resign,” Booker said. ‘He deserves a fair trial now. He deserves the presumption of innocence, just like everyone else.”
Primary polls, including Menendez before he decided not to run as a Democrat, have shown Rep. Andy Kim beating his Democratic opponents. Kim was the first member of New Jersey’s congressional delegation to call for Menendez’s resignation.
“Americans are fed up with politicians putting their own personal benefit above what is good for the country. Everyone knows that Bob Menendez is not running for the people of New Jersey, but for himself. It is time for change and I will do my best to restore integrity to the United States Senate,” Kim said in a statement on Monday.
Senator Dick Durbin and the Illinois Democrat told reporters on Monday that he was “certainly” concerned that the embattled senator would jeopardize Democrats’ ability to hold the seat with his third-party bid.
“I’m not sure he’s ready for my advice,” Durbin said.
Menendez has spent nearly $4.9 million in campaign funds on legal fees since October, according to Federal Election Commission filings. He has about $3.5 million in cash on hand and contributions to his campaign are few and far between.
His legal defense fund, which is separate from his campaign account, is bringing in more money, even if he runs out of it quickly. From July 2023 through March 2024, Menendez raked in more than $658,000 and had just over $112,000 left.
Nikole Killion and Laura Garrison contributed reporting.
