Senate Democrat says ‘cloud’ hangs over Menendez after bribery indictment

Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) said Sunday that a cloud hangs over Sen. Bob Menendez’s (D-N.J.) service in the Senate now following his indictment, but he stopped short of calling for Menendez’s resignation. 

“These are serious and shocking charges of bribery, corruption. I’ve never seen anything like this,” Kelly said on CBS News’s “Face The Nation” when asked whether Menendez should resign.

“I think Sen. Menendez is going to have to think long and hard about the cloud that’s going to hang over his service in the United States Senate,” Kelly added. 

Menendez was indicted this past week on charges related to bribery and corruption, accused of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes and gold to assist three New Jersey businessmen and interests in Egypt.

Menendez adamantly denied the allegations but stepped down as head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in accordance with Senate Democrats’ protocol for indicted lawmakers. Still, Kelly noted this as a “serious step.”

A growing number of Democrats, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.) and Sen. John Fetterman (Pa.), have called on Menendez to resign from his post in the Senate while still maintaining that he should be presumed innocent until proven guilty. Menendez has resisted all calls for his resignation.