It's about time…
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy (D) is expected to to select his former chief of staff to replace outgoing Sen. Bob Menendez (D) who was recently convicted on federal charges.
Murphy will pick George Helmy, who worked as the governor's chief of staff for four years, to replace Menendez, according to multiple reports. Helmy left Murphy's team in October 2023 and became the chief external affairs and policy officer for RWJBarnabas Health.
Helmy received high praise from Murphy, who reportedly picked him over Rep. Andy Kim (D-NJ), who won the Democratic primary for Menendez's seat and is running to replace him in November's election. Helmy would finish up Menendez's term which ends in January.
“Simply put, you cannot write the history of our administration without recognizing George's singular role in leading our team for over four and a half years,” Murphy said after Helmy left his office.
The Republican nominee for Senate, Curtis Bashaw, praised the selection of Helmy.
“Governor Murphy did the right thing in appointing a temporary caretaker to this seat and letting New Jersey voters make the ultimate decision on who will best represent them in the United States Senate come November,” he said. “On Election Day, I'm confident New Jerseyans will vote to make a change from the Democratic monopoly that has brought them decades of corruption, higher taxes, and chaos at the border.”
Menendez announced that he would leave the Senate by August 20 after he was convicted on 16 counts, including bribery, extortion, wire fraud, obstruction of justice, and acting as a foreign agent. (RELATED: Report: Sen. Menendez To Resign In August)
He will be sentenced on October 29.
Following his conviction, Menendez told reporters that he is confident he will be able to reverse his convictions on appeal.
“Obviously, I'm deeply, deeply disappointed by the jury's decision. I have every faith that the law and the facts did not sustain that decision and that we will be successful upon appeal,” he said after the conviction.
In the federal indictment, Menendez and his wife are accused of accepting bribes from three business people in exchange for actions he took as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. (RELATED: US Sen. Bob Menendez and Spouse Indicted)
“Those bribes included cash, gold, payments toward a home mortgage, compensation for a low-or-no-show job, a luxury vehicle, and other things of value,” the indictment said. Federal authorities reportedly found gold bars and nearly $500,000 in cash stuffed throughout the senator's home that they traced back to the businessmen Menendez allegedly worked with.
The federal judge overseeing Sen. Bob Menendez's bribery trial has indefinitely delayed the trial for the New Jersey Democrat's wife, Nadine Menendez, who was charged alongside her husband but is set to face a separate jury due to her treatment for cancer.
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