Only one major donor is publicly standing by the embattled Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ). NORPAC, a political action committee dedicated to promoting U.S.-Israeli relations, told its donors after news of Menendez’s indictment broke “It is our intention to continue to support his re-election efforts.” NORPAC has so far raised half-a-million in cash for Menendez’s 2024 re-election bid.
Since being elevated to the U.S. Senate in 2006, Menendez has cultivated a who’s-who of powerful corporate donors including Goldman Sachs, Pfizer, Merck, and Blue Cross/Blue Shield. Other than NORPAC, most of Menendez’s major donors have remained silent as to whether they’ll continue to contribute to his political campaign. Jon Kaiden, founder of Baleon Capital, appears to be the only major donor to publicly announce that he will no longer contribute to Menendez’s re-election bid.
Over half of the Democrat members in the U.S. Senate have now called on Menendez to resign from public office. Despite the calls the New Jersey Democrat has remained defiant, telling reporters at a press conference on Monday that he intends to fight the federal indictment for bribery and corruption against him while running for re-election in 2024. When Menendez entered a ‘not guilty’ plea when he was arraigned in federal court on Wednesday.
Last week, Sen. Menendez was indicted by a federal grand jury over allegations of public corruption involving attempts to influence a federal prosecution, as well as participating in a foreign influence operation. The federal indictment alleges Menendez and his wife Nadine received payments in cash, gold bars, and a luxury vehicle for working to disrupt the prosecution of long-time donor and associate Jose Uribe and for acting as an unregistered foreign agents on behalf of the Arab Republic of Egypt.
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