Sen. Bob Menendez (DNJ) has submitted a petition with nearly 2,500 signatures to run for reelection as an independent, despite being on trial on federal bribery charges.
The New Jersey Department of Elections listed Menendez as a candidate for the Nov. 5 election after he submitted a petition with 2,465 signatures. To appear on the ballot, Menendez needed to gather 800 signatures.
Menendez has served three terms as a senator and is currently seeking a fourth term.
Menendez faces a variety of criminal charges, including conspiracy, obstruction of justice, bribery, acting as a foreign agent, extortion and honest services fraud, and there was much speculation about whether he would seek re-election, but in March he announced he would not run in the Democratic Senate primary.
Republicans see the embattled Mr. Menendez’s independent run as a chance to retake the Senate seat.
Senator Bob Menendez (DN.J.) (AP Photo/Alex Brandon/File)
Instead, Menendez simultaneously announced his intention to run as an independent if he is exonerated in his trial this summer.
He did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital about his re-election effort.
Menendez and his wife, Nadine, have pleaded not guilty to bribery and obstruction of justice charges. They are accused of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in the form of cash, gold bars and Mercedes-Benzes for various businessmen and the Egyptian government.
The senator’s trial began in May.
Sen. Bob Menendez may blame wife Nadine in federal corruption trial: court documents
Senator Bob Menendez held a press conference to deny the corruption accusations and demands from Democratic lawmakers that he should resign from Congress on September 25, 2023. (Fatih Aktas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Jurors are expected to determine whether the evidence against Menendez and two New Jersey businessmen, Fred Dibes and Wael Hana, shows they engaged in a bribery scheme that included interference with a criminal investigation and actions benefiting the governments of Egypt and Qatar.
All three have pleaded not guilty. Co-defendant Jose Uribe has pleaded guilty and agreed to testify against the others. The trial of the senator’s wife has been postponed until at least July for health reasons.
This is the second time Menendez has been charged with federal corruption in the past decade.
Sen. Menendez charged with obstruction of justice in separate indictment
Photographic evidence showed gold bars allegedly given by Fred Daves and found in the home of New Jersey Democratic Senators Bob and Nadine Menendez. (U.S. District Court/File)
Federal prosecutors charged Menendez with obstruction of justice in a separate indictment unsealed in March in connection with a multi-year bribery scandal involving the governments of both Egypt and Qatar.
The 18-page indictment adds to existing charges against Menendez and his co-defendants, including his wife, Nadine, alleging that they used their power and influence as senators to act as foreign agents to benefit the Egyptian government and accept hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes.
The indictment, which came after Uribe accepted a plea bargain and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors, also includes allegations that Menendez committed conspiracy, bribery, acting as a foreign agent, extortion and wire fraud.
In early April, Nadine’s legal team requested that her trial be postponed due to an “unforeseen medical change.” They said she was diagnosed with a “serious medical condition” on April 9.
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New Jersey Republicans, seeking to end the party’s decades-long stranglehold on the state’s U.S. Senate delegation, welcomed the possibility that the embattled senator could seek reelection as an independent in 2024.
Fox News Digital’s Julia Johnson and Jamie Joseph contributed to this report.
