Menendez will not run as a Democrat, but leaves the door open for an independent bid

Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey announced Thursday that he will not run for re-election as a Democrat this year after yielding to intense political pressure and federal allegations that put him at the center of an international bribery scheme.

But in a nine minute video On social media, the 70-year-old Menendez reiterated that he would not resign and left the door open to running as a political independent if he is acquitted at a trial scheduled for May.

“I am hopeful that my exoneration will occur this summer and that I will be able to continue my candidacy as an independent Democrat in the general election,” he said.

Yet Mr. Menendez’s decision to abandon the fight for his party’s nomination amounted to a painful concession after months of near-total defiance that left his political career teetering on the edge.

It was almost certain that he would lose the June primary for his own seat. Nearly every Democratic ally has abandoned him in recent months, and two prominent Democrats — Rep. Andy Kim and Tammy Murphy, wife of Gov. Philip D. Murphy — defeated him in the primaries.

“Unfortunately, the current charges I face – of which I am innocent and will prove – will not allow me to have such political dialogue and debate with political opponents who have already made it a cornerstone of their campaign,” said he. in Thursday’s video.

Campaigning as an independent against his own party’s political organization is unlikely to be any easier, even if he were to win in court. It could also jeopardize Democrats’ already tenuous hold on the Senate if he were to siphon votes from the Democratic nominee in a close race.

Mr. Menendez has until early June to decide whether to formally run an independent campaign. But former allies speculated that his motivation for retaining that option could have as much to do with his legal battles as politics: By remaining a potential candidate, he can continue to raise money to pay the lawyers representing him and his wife , Nadine Menendez, representing.

The senator had already spent $2.3 million from his campaign account on legal fees from October through December, federal documents show. He spent at least $295,000 more on a separate one legal defense fund. These charges are likely to increase in the coming weeks as his trial approaches.

Mr. Menendez’s legal troubles have been an ongoing distraction since September, when he and Ms. Menendez were indicted in an elaborate bribery scheme. Hours before Mr. Menendez’s announcement, his wife appeared in federal court in Manhattan for a hearing on whether her lawyers should be barred from representing her at trial because of a potential conflict of interest.

Mr. Menendez’s daughter, Alicia Menendez, a news anchor on MSNBC, was on the air, stepping in as host of “Deadline: White House,” when details of her father’s announcement began to spread.

It was the latest twist in the slow-motion collapse of a man who just six months ago was seen as one of the most powerful political figures in New Jersey and a leading national voice on foreign policy and immigration issues.

Mr. Menendez essentially broke the law for decades as he rose from mayor of his hometown of Union City to one of the country’s first Cuban-American congressmen. He avoided charges in a federal criminal investigation. After being indicted on separate bribery charges in 2015, he avoided conviction two years later when the trial ended in a hung jury and the government dropped the case after the judge dismissed the most serious charges.

Still, the case cost a lot of money. Mr. Menendez has spent more than $5 million to lawyers, and a little-known challenger received nearly 40 percent of the vote in the Democratic primary the following year. Party leaders rallied behind Mr. Menendez in the general election, and he defeated his well-funded Republican opponent, Bob Hugin, by 11 percentage points.

Mr. Menendez emphasized that history could repeat itself when federal prosecutors in Manhattan initiated the latest round of charges in September. But old allies who had stood by him during his previous trials concluded that this case was different and severed their ties with him.

In July, before the charges were announced, John FX Graham, a New Jersey insurance executive and member of the Democratic National Committee, donated $10,000 to Mr. Menendez’s defense fund.

But Mr. Graham said in an interview this week that he felt “betrayed and disappointed” after the details of the government’s case against Mr. Menendez emerged.

He said he told Mr. Menendez’s fundraising consultant that he would never contribute again. In response, he said he received a handwritten note from the senator assuring him that he would “beat this thing.”

“Bob Menendez’s career is over,” said Mr. Graham, who believes Mr. Menendez should resign. “It’s so simple and he hasn’t admitted it to himself yet.”

An initial indictment last fall alleged that Mr. Menendez and his wife conspired with others to accept gold bars, a Mercedes-Benz convertible and other lavish bribes in exchange for using his position as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to help foreign power. Egypt, and two criminal investigations in New Jersey.

The charging papers included photos of the gold, wads of cash and the Mercedes, all of which were found during a search of the senator’s home.

In the months since, prosecutors have added more than a dozen charges, accusing Mr. Menendez and his wife of conspiring to have him act as a foreign agent, taking steps to aid another foreign country, Qatar, and obstruct the course of justice.

The couple and two other defendants have pleaded not guilty on all counts. But a fifth defendant, a former insurance broker from New Jersey, pleaded guilty this month to trying to bribe the couple with the Mercedes. In a setback for the senator’s defense, former real estate agent Jose Uribe has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.

Mr. Menendez, an experienced and combative political fighter, has accused these prosecutors of being overzealous and trying to smear him by taking his case directly to fellow senators and voters. His lawyers argue the indictment criminalizes normal legislative activity and ignores the constitutional protections afforded to members of Congress.

These arguments may prevail in court, but they have had little effect on voters, Democratic officials and even some members of his own staff who would have helped shape his political fate.

Nearly 75 percent of New Jersey voters disapprove of Mr. Menendez’s performance in the Senate, a recent Monmouth University Survey found – about the same percentage who find him guilty.

In Washington, Mr. Menendez has been urged to resign by more than half of Senate Democrats. His longtime political adviser and several key members of the congressional staff resigned.

At home, if he remains on the ballot in November, he will most likely face Mr. Kim or Ms. Murphy, who are locked in a highly competitive race for the Democratic nomination.

There are several Republican candidates in the primary, including a mayor and a former television reporter, both of whom have endorsed former President Donald J. Trump as the party’s standard-bearer this year, and a Jersey Shore hotel developer who has been critical of Mr. Trump .

Ms. Murphy did not immediately comment.

Kim, 41, warned that Democrats’ slim majority in the Senate was “at stake” and said he would be the stronger candidate in November if Menendez entered the race and drew votes from the Democratic nominee.