越来越多的参议院民主党人周二呼吁新泽西参议员鲍勃·梅嫩德斯辞职联邦大陪审团驳回了对他的全面起诉上周末。
自民主党人梅嫩德斯被指控犯有联邦贿赂罪以来，参议院周二首次返回华盛顿。虽然许多参议院民主党人最初反应迟缓，但他们中的许多人现在呼吁梅嫩德斯下台，截至周二晚上，至少有18人这样做了。
最引人注目的是梅嫩德斯的新泽西参议员同事科里·布克。布克称对梅嫩德斯的指控“很难与我认识的人和解”，但他说他最终得出结论，梅嫩德斯应该辞去他在参议院的席位。
布克说:“下台并不是承认有罪，而是承认担任公职往往需要以巨大的个人代价做出巨大的牺牲。”在一份声明中说周二早上。“参议员梅嫩德斯在过去为服务做出了这些牺牲。在这种情况下，他必须再次这样做。我相信下台对梅嫩德斯参议员毕生为之服务的人来说是最好的选择。”
梅嫩德斯和他的妻子纳丁被指控接受数十万美元的贿赂，以换取利用他的权力使三名商人瓦伊勒·哈纳、何塞·乌里韦和弗雷德·戴德斯致富，并使埃及政府受益。据检察官称，这些贿赂包括金条、一辆豪华敞篷车、房屋抵押贷款等等。梅嫩德斯否认有不当行为。
2023年9月25日，在新泽西州尤宁市，参议员罗伯特·梅嫩德斯和他的妻子纳丁·梅嫩德斯因与三名新泽西商人的腐败关系而被指控犯有贿赂罪，之后他发表了讲话。
迈克·西格尔/路透社
民主党参议员约翰·费特曼。是第一个呼吁梅嫩德斯下台的参议院民主党人。在周六的一份声明中，费特曼声称，尽管梅嫩德斯在被证明有罪之前有权被推定无罪，但他“无权继续对国家政策施加影响，特别是鉴于这些指控的严重性和具体性。”
梅嫩德斯似乎在回应费尔特曼的声明，以及其他人要求他辞职的呼声，在评论期间周一下午的新闻发布会。
在为自己辩护他在起诉书中称之为“猥亵”的指控时，梅嫩德斯呼吁他的议员同事在法庭上为自己辩护时要有耐心。
“美国民主和司法体系的基石是这样一条原则，即所有人在被证明有罪之前都被视为无罪。所有人。我不要求更多，也不应该更少，”梅嫩德斯说。“公众舆论法庭不能取代我们受人尊敬的司法系统。当伤害不可挽回时，我们不能为了政治上的权宜之计而放弃无罪推定。”
梅嫩德斯呼吁旁观者“停下来，让事实得以呈现。”
但是他没有在许多民主党参议员中找到同情他的听众。
自梅嫩德斯发表讲话以来，又有几名参议院民主党人加入了费特曼的行列，呼吁梅嫩德斯辞职。
其中包括民主党参议员鲍勃·凯西。他说梅嫩德斯辜负了公众的信任。
“公共服务是一种神圣的信任。联邦起诉书中提出的具体指控向我表明，梅嫩德斯参议员一再违反这种信任。虽然他有权被推定无罪，但担任公职是一种特权，需要更高的行为标准。参议员梅嫩德斯应该辞职，”凯西在一份声明中说。
俄亥俄州参议员谢罗德·布朗也加入了进来。
布朗说:“参议员梅嫩德斯辜负了公众的信任，应该从美国参议院辞职。”。
2024年竞选连任的梅嫩德斯尚未宣布是否打算参选。但到目前为止，要求他辞职的声音最大的是他的同事，他们将在明年11月进行投票。
凯西和布朗下一轮上场。杰基·罗森、塔米·鲍德温、马丁·海因里希和乔恩·特斯也加入了呼吁梅嫩德斯辞职的行列。
特斯特的呼吁尤其引人注目，因为他在红色蒙大拿州拥有很大程度上被认为是民主党人明年秋天最难保住的席位之一。
“我已经阅读了对梅嫩德斯参议员的详细指控，发现这些指控令人深感不安。虽然他像其他美国人一样应该受到公平的审判，但我认为为了公众对美国参议院的信任，参议员梅嫩德斯应该辞职，”特斯在一份声明中说。
其他民主党人包括纽约州的克里斯汀·吉利布兰德、夏威夷州的梅齐·广野、科罗拉多州的麦克·班尼，伊丽莎白·沃伦马萨诸塞州的爱德华·马基、佐治亚州的拉斐尔·沃诺克和康涅狄格州的理查德·布卢门撒尔。
周一，梅嫩德斯似乎在抨击那些利用他的起诉书推进其政治活动的人。
“记住，检察官有时也会犯错。可悲的是，我知道，”梅嫩德斯说。“其他人没有等待所有的事实被呈现出来，而是争先恐后地为自己或周围的人抓住机会。”
在一片指责声中，梅嫩德斯暂时辞去了参议院外交关系委员会主席的职务。
这是梅嫩德斯第二次被控腐败。2015年的一项起诉在2018年以无效审判告终，此前陪审团未能就所有指控达成裁决，法官宣布他在一些指控上无罪。
Growing number of Senate Democrats call on Sen. Bob Menendez to resign
A growing number of Senate Democrats on Tuesday called on New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez to resign after afederal grand jury returned a sweeping indictment against himlate last week.
The Senate returned to Washington Tuesday for the first time since Menendez, a Democrat, was indicted on federal bribery charges. While many Senate Democrats were initially slow to react, many of them are now calling for Menendez to step aside, with at least 18 having done so by Tuesday evening.
Most notable is Menendez's New Jersey Senate colleague Cory Booker. Booker called the allegations against Menendez "hard to reconcile with the person I know," but said he ultimately concluded that Menendez ought to resign his seat in the Senate.
"Stepping down is not an admission of guilty but an acknowledgement that holding public office often demands tremendous sacrifices at great personal cost," Bookersaid in a statementTuesday morning. "Sen. Menendez has made these sacrifices in the past to serve. And in this case he must do so again. I believe stepping down is the best for those Senator Menendez has spent his life serving."
Menendez and his wife, Nadine, are accused of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars of bribes in exchange for wielding his power to enrich three businessmen -- Wael Hana, Jose Uribe and Fred Daides -- and benefit the Egyptian government. Those bribes, according to prosecutors, included gold bars, a luxury convertible car, home mortgage payments and more. Menendez has denied wrongdoing.
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., was the first Senate Democrat to call on Menendez to step down. In a Saturday statement, Fetterman asserted that while Menendez is deserving of a presumption of innocence until proven guilty, he is "not entitled to continue to wield influence over national policy, especially given the serious and specific nature of the allegations."
Menendez seemed to be answering Fetterman's statement, and calls from others for his resignation,during remarksto gathered press on Monday afternoon.
While defending himself from what he described as "salacious" allegations in the indictment, Menendez called on his fellow lawmakers to be patient as he defends himself in court.
"A cornerstone of the foundation of American democracy and our justice system is the principle that all people are presumed innocent until proven guilty. All people. I ask for nothing more and deserve nothing less," Menendez said. "The court of public opinion is no substitute for our revered justice system. We cannot set aside the presumption of innocence for political expediency when the harm is irrevocable."
Menendez called on onlookers to "pause and allow the facts to be presented."
But he did not find a sympathetic audience in many of his fellow Democratic senators.
Since Menendez's remarks, several additional Senate Democrats have joined Fetterman in his calls for Menendez to resign.
Among them are Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., who said Menendez violated the public's trust.
"Public service is a sacred trust. The specific allegations set forth in the federal indictment indicate to me that Senator Menendez violated that trust repeatedly. While he is entitled to the presumption of innocence, serving in public office is a privilege that demands a higher standard of conduct. Senator Menendez should resign," Casey said in a statement.
Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, joined as well.
"Senator Menendez has broken the public trust and should resign from the U.S. Senate," Brown said.
Menendez, who is up for reelection 2024, has not yet announced whether he intends to run. But so far, the most vocal of those calling for his resignation are his colleagues who will be on the ballot next November.
Casey and Brown are up next cycle. So, too, are Sens. Jacky Rosen, Tammy Baldwin, Martin Heinrich and Jon Tester, who have joined the chorus calling on Menendez to resign.
Tester's call was particularly notable as he holds what is largely expected to one of the hardest seats for Democrats to keep next fall, in red Montana.
"I've read the detailed charges against Senator Menendez and find them deeply disturbing. While he deserves a fair trial like every other American, I believe Senator Menendez should resign for the sake of the public's faith in the U.S. Senate," Tester said in a statement.
Other Democrats include Sens. Kirstin Gillibrand of New York, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, Michael Bennet of Colorado,Elizabeth Warrenand Edward Markey of Massachusetts, Georgia's Raphael Warnock and Connecticut's Richard Blumenthal.
On Monday, Menendez seemed to swipe at those who are using his indictment to forward their political campaigns.
"Remember prosecutors are wrong sometimes. Sadly, I know that," Menendez said. "Instead of waiting for all the facts to be presented, others have rushed to take the opportunity for themselves or those around them."
Menendez has temporarily stepped away from his role as Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations committee amid allegations.
This is the second time Menendez has been charged with corruption. A 2015 indictment ended in a mistrial in 2018 after a jury failed to reach a verdict on all counts and a judge acquitted him on some charges.
