Menendez has been a senator since 2006. Last fall, it was announced that he and his wife are being charged with accepting bribes from a number of businessmen, among them an Egyptian-American. Among other things, the bribes are said to have been used by Menendez to give advantages to the Egyptian government.
Menendez denied the charges, but on July 16 the verdict came. He was found guilty on all 16 counts in the corruption case.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, called for Menendez’s resignation shortly after the verdict.
That will also be the case now. Menendez submitted his resignation on Tuesday, several American media reports.
– He has had pressure from several Democrats to resign, but his defense has been that he has not been convicted. But now the pressure became too great, says SVT’s US correspondent Fouad Youcefi.
“Republicans have used the case in response to speech”
The sentence is to be announced on October 29 – that is, just one week before the presidential election takes place.
– The Republicans have used the case in response to speeches when Democrats criticize that Donald Trump had legal problems, but with Menendez now resigning, it will be more difficult for them to use it, says Youcefi.
Menendez sat for a long time as chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, and according to Fouad Youcefi, was a key player in securing American support for Sweden’s NATO membership.