New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy calls on Sen. Menendez to resign following indictment

Democratic New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy called on Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., to resign following a federal indictment.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams announced the indictment Friday morning at a press conference.

"Today, I'm announcing that my office has obtained a three count indictment charging Senator Robert Menendez, his wife, Nadine Menendez, and three New Jersey businessmen, Wael Hana, Jose Uribe and Fred Daibes for bribery offenses," U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said at a press conference on Friday morning. 

According to the indictment, the couple accepted "hundreds of thousands of dollars of bribes in exchange for using Menendez's power and influence as a senator to seek to protect and enrich Hana, Uribe, and Daibes and to benefit the Arab Republic of Egypt." 

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The alleged bribes included gold, cash, payments toward a mortgage, compensation for a low-or-no-show job, a luxury car, and "other things of value."

Menendez had disclosed his family accepted gold bars in 2020.

The indictment alleges that Menendez and his wife, from at least 2018 through 2022, "engaged in a corrupt relationship" with three New Jersey businessmen.

In a statement, Murphy said the allegations are troubling and called on Menendez to resign.

"The allegations in the indictment against Senator Menendez and four other defendants are deeply disturbing. These are serious charges that implicate national security and the integrity of our criminal justice system. Under our legal system, Senator Menendez and the other defendants have not been found guilty and will have the ability to present evidence disputing these charges, and we must respect the process," Murphy said. "However, the alleged facts are so serious that they compromise the ability of Senator Menendez to effectively represent the people of our state. Therefore, I am calling for his immediate resignation."

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Responding to the calls to resign, Menendez said he's staying put.

"Those who believe in justice believe in innocence until proven guilty. I intend to continue to fight for the people of New Jersey with the same success I’ve had for the past five decades," he said. "This is the same record of success these very same leaders have lauded all along. It is not lost on me how quickly some are rushing to judge a Latino and push him out of his seat. I am not going anywhere."

The senator earlier said that prosecutors misrepresented the normal work of a Congressional office" and are attempting to "dig my political grave." 

"The excesses of these prosecutors is apparent. They have misrepresented the normal work of a Congressional office. On top of that, not content with making false claims against me, they have attacked my wife for the longstanding friendships she had before she and I even met," Menendez said.

Prosecutors allege Menendez gave sensitive U.S. government information to Hana, who's an Egyptian-American businessman, who "secretly aided the Government of Egypt."

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Menendez allegedly pressured an official at the Department of Agriculture with the goal of protecting a business monopoly granted to Hana by the Egyptian government.

In return, Hana allegedly kicked back profits from the monopoly to Menendez, the indictment states.

Fox News Digital's Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report.