Menendez might be a crook, but like all defendants, he deserves his day in court. An indictment is nothing more than the prosecution’s opening argument, and nothing in that document should be automatically accepted as true. The specific details — FBI agents say they found nearly $500,000 in cash stuffed in the senator’s clothes, closet and a safe in his home, along with gold bars he allegedly received for doing favors for Egyptian nationals — are sensational. But only a trial can establish whether they are proof of illegal behavior.
Calling on prominent figures to leave their jobs at the whiff of scandal or legal trouble puts the presumption of innocence under pressure. A person’s resignation from office or employment cannot be introduced at trial, but the modern media machine means prospective jurors would likely know about it anyway. They might well ask, “Why resign if you’re convinced you’re innocent?” Even the hint of those thoughts taints the fairness of a subsequent trial.
Democracy is also not served by resignations prompted by indictments. People are entitled to elect representatives of their choice, and whenever possible, they deserve the final say over whether officials keep their posts. Politicians who support their colleagues’ resignations do so because they are eager to avoid embarrassment for their party and all the political consequences that comes with it. That’s cowardice, not leadership.
Toughing it out, as Menendez seems intent on doing, forces insiders and voters to make hard choices. Do they prefer a person with potential character flaws even if they otherwise like their record, or do they care more about a person’s alleged behavior? That’s not always an easy decision, as Republicans dealing with former president Donald Trump or Democrats perplexed by Bill Clinton’s behavior can attest to.
It’s an especially difficult choice for Democratic leaders in New Jersey, where state law gives the candidate who is endorsed by each county’s local party preferential placement on primary ballots. This makes their endorsements a coveted prize, which in turn usually gives county chiefs bargaining power with those seeking office. It also gives powerful officeholders such as Menendez leverage to push leaders to give them the endorsement or risk their wrath.
Resignation would spare the leaders that difficult and awkward choice. No wonder at least 11 of the state’s 21 Democratic county leaders have called for Menendez to step down. Having him leave office on his own would serve their interests quite well.
Democrats who worry about the effect Menendez’s indictment might have on their 2024 hopes should rest easy. Republicans would certainly make the charges a talking point if he runs for reelection, but there’s little proof that a senator’s indictment effects voters’ decisions in other races. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam refused to resign in the face of Democratic pressure in 2019 after old yearbook photos showed him in racist garb, but there’s no evidence that scandal was the reason for Democrats’ defeat in the 2021 elections. The far more likely reason they lost was President Biden’s unpopularity and gubernatorial nominee Terry McAuliffe’s debate missteps.
Menendez might well beat this rap; that’s what he’s done throughout his entire career. He has long been the subject of criminal investigations, including one that led to an indictment in 2017. A jury voted 10-2 for acquittal then, and prosecutors chose not to retry the case. Tellingly, Menendez won reelection in 2018 by a comfortable 11 points.
Public office is a public trust, and it should be up voters to decide whether that trust has been broken. Absent a felony conviction that is upheld on appeal, politicians subject to indictment who maintain their innocence should resist calls to resign. Let the justice system play out as it’s supposed to.
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