Cotton defends Menendez, says jury should decide his fate

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) defended Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) amid calls to resign from Democratic lawmakers, saying a jury and his voters should determine his fate. 

“Senator Menendez has a right to test the government’s evidence in court, just like any other citizen. He should be judged by jurors and New Jersey’s voters, not by Democratic politicians who now view him as inconvenient to their hold on power,” Cotton said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. 

Menendez was charged last week with bribery and was accused of accepting gifts, including cash and gold bars, in exchange for his help through his role as the senior senator from New Jersey and as the now-former chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was accused of helping businessmen from his state and those with connections to Egypt’s government. 

Menendez has maintained his innocence and called the federal indictment a result of an “active smear campaign” against him.

Cotton called the charges against Menendez “serious and troubling,” but he also used the opportunity to reject any effort to exonerate the Department of Justice from GOP accusations of so-called corruption and political bias — attacks that have only increased since former President Trump was charged in two separate federal indictments.

“The charges against Senator Menendez are serious and troubling. At the same time, the Department of Justice has a troubling record of failure and corruption in cases against public figures, from Ted Stevens to Bob McDonnell to Donald Trump to Bob Menendez the last time around,” Cotton wrote on X.

Cotton’s statement comes as over a dozen Democratic colleagues in Congress and from his state have called on Menendez to resign.