US Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey is resigning from office following his corruption conviction

TRENTON, NJ — U.S. Senator Bob Menendez will step down on August 20 after his conviction for accepting bribes for corrupt acts, including acting as an agent of the Egyptian government, he wrote in a letter to the governor of New Jersey obtained by The Associated Press.

Menendez had maintained his innocence after the July 16 verdict and vowed in his letter Tuesday to appeal “fully,” including to the Supreme Court, he wrote to fellow Democrat Gov. Phil Murphy. The roughly month-long delay in his departure will give his staff time for an orderly transition, Menendez wrote. The date also coincides with a Senate payday.

He did not mention the federal conviction in the letter, but cited his work to help victims of Superstorm Sandy and get funding for public transportation, among other things. He addressed the governor directly, reminding him that he had once praised Menendez before calling for his resignation.

“These successes have led you, Governor, to call me the ‘indispensable senator,’” he wrote.

The Senate has received a copy of Menendez’s resignation letter, according to Sen. Peter Welch of Vermont, who chaired Tuesday’s meeting.

Murphy’s resignation will open the opportunity for him to nominate someone to serve as senator for the remainder of Menendez’s term, which expires Jan. 3.

Murphy said in a statement Tuesday that he planned to use his power to appoint an interim senator to fill Menendez’s seat. He did not say who that would be.

The seat was up for election on November 5. Democrats have nominated U.S. Rep. Andy Kim, who has a strong position in the Democratic-leaning state, to face Republican Curtis Bashaw.

Menendez, 70, was convicted on charges that he sold the power of his office to three New Jersey businessmen seeking various favors. Prosecutors said Menendez used his influence to interfere in three separate state and federal criminal investigations to protect his associates. They said he helped one venal friend close a multimillion-dollar deal with a Qatari investment fund and another retain a contract to provide religious certification for meat destined for Egypt.

He was also convicted of taking actions that benefited the Egyptian government in exchange for bribes, including providing information about personnel at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, ghostwriting a letter to fellow senators seeking to lift a freeze on military aid to Egypt. FBI agents found stacks of gold bars and $480,000 in cash stashed in Menendez’s home.

After his conviction, Menendez denied all of the charges, saying, “I have never been anything other than a patriot of my country and for my country. I have never, ever been a foreign agent.”

But numerous Democrats had urged him to resign, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. Murphy had called on the Senate to expel Menendez if he did not resign. Only 15 senators have ever been expelled. Senator William Blount, of Tennessee, was expelled in 1797 for treason. The other 14 were expelled in 1861 and 1862 for their support of the Confederacy during the Civil War.

Menendez faces decades in prison. A judge scheduled his sentencing for Oct. 29, a week before the election.

His resignation caps a career in politics that began with his election to his local school board just a few years after graduating from high school. He has held office at every level in his home state and had pledged to run for a fourth term in November as an independent.

The son of Cuban immigrants and trained as a lawyer, Menendez served on the Union City, New Jersey, school board at age 20 before graduating from law school. He later served as mayor of the city, to which he still has close ties.

His own biography notes that he fought corruption early in his political career, testifying against Union City officials and building a reputation as a tough guy. He was then elected to the state Assembly, then the state Senate, and then the U.S. House of Representatives.

He was appointed U.S. Senator in 2006 when the seat became vacant after incumbent Jon Corzine became governor. He was directly elected in 2006 and again in 2012 and 2018. He served as chairman of the influential Senate Foreign Relations Committee from 2013.

Menendez’s political career appeared to be over in 2015 when he was indicted in New Jersey for accepting bribes for lavish overseas vacations, private jet travel and campaign contributions from a wealthy Florida ophthalmologist, Salomon Melgen.

In return, prosecutors said Menendez pressured government officials on Melgen’s behalf over an $8.9 million Medicare billing dispute and a stalled contract to provide port-of-call screening equipment in the Dominican Republic. They said he also helped obtain U.S. visas for the doctor’s girlfriends.

The defense argued that the gifts were not bribes but signs of friendship between two men who were “like brothers.”

The jury could not reach a unanimous verdict, resulting in a new trial in 2017. U.S. prosecutors have not requested a new trial.

New Jersey voters then sent Menendez back to the Senate for another term. Melgen was convicted in a separate fraud trial, but his 17-year sentence was later commuted by then-President Donald Trump.

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Jalonick reported from Washington.