Bob Menendez

New England senators call on Menendez to resign following bribery indictment

Prosecutors said that during a raid last year on the U.S. senator's New Jersey home and a safe deposit box, federal agents found more than $480,000 in cash, scores of gold bars and a luxury vehicle that were the result of a bribery agreement with three New Jersey businessmen

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Massachusetts Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey are among a growing number of Democrats who are now calling on New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez to resign following his indictment last week on federal bribery charges.

"The public's trust has been broken. Senator Menendez should resign," Markey said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Tuesday afternoon.

Warren had a similar take when asked if Menendez should resign by Boston Globe senior opinion writer and MSNBC contributor Kimberley Atkins Stohr.

"Yes. These are serious charges, and it's time for Sen. Menendez to step away from the Senate and concentrate on his legal defense," she said.

New Hampshire Sen. Maggie Hassan also weighed in Tuesday afternoon, urging Menendez to resign.

"He is entitled to equal justice under the law just as every American is, but he is not entitled to a Senate seat," she said on X.

Vermont Sen. Peter Welch had called for Menendez to step down Monday night in a post on X.

"Senator Menendez is entitled to the presumption of innocence," he said. "But the people of New Jersey and the United States Senate are entitled to an effective Senator."

New Hampshire Congresswoman Annie Kuster shared New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker's call for Menendez to resign Tuesday on X, along with the message, "I agree."

Before Monday, Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania was the only Senate Democrat to call on Menendez to resign. More than a dozen other U.S. Senators have since joined him.

Prosecutors said that during a raid last year on Menendez's New Jersey home and a safe deposit box, federal agents found more than $480,000 in cash, scores of gold bars and a luxury vehicle that were the "fruits of [the couple's] corrupt bribery agreement" with three New Jersey businessmen.

Menendez suggested to reporters Monday that the cash found by investigators "were monies drawn from my personal savings account based on the income that I have lawfully derived."

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