Sen. Bob Menendez Files for Re-Election as Independent While On Trial

(OurNationNews.com) – Democratic Senator Bob Menendez is on trial for several charges but has filed for re-election as an independent candidate.

Menendez says that he is an innocent man and hopes that the trial will prove he is not guilty this summer. The senator and his wife are charged with taking bribes and gifts in exchange for assisting New Jersey businessmen in getting their projects approved.

Menendez helped one man get a profitable meat-certification agreement in Egypt, a deal that is advantageous to the government of Egypt. Prosecutors allege that Menendez assisted another person in getting a Qatari investment agreement. In exchange for these deals, Menendez and his wife allegedly received gold bars and a Mercedes-Ben in exchange for helping those agreements go through.

Prosecutors allege that Menendez profited in the amount of hundreds of thousands in a bribery scheme that ultimately provided benefit to the Egyptian government. Menendez has filed all of the signatures he needs to get on the ballot as an independent candidate. He is asking voters to consider how he has served his constituents in Congress for his three terms in the position.

A Monmouth poll in March found that 68% of New Jersey voters want Bob Menendez to resign from his position following the charges filed against him. 74% of poll respondents disapprove of the job Menendez is doing as a Senator, which indicates he faces a tough challenge to get re-elected as an independent candidate in November.

Andy Kim won the Democratic primary to be on the general election ballot in November in an attempt to replace Menendez in the Senate. Menendez faced a criminal indictment in 2015, but only 28% of poll respondents thought he should resign from his position at that time. 48% of respondents in 2015 thought Menendez was probably guilty while 75% think he is most likely guilty of the charges he faces in 2024. The trial started in May and is expected to resolve this summer.