America in Brief: US Senator Steps Down After Bribery Conviction

Influential U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez has announced his resignation after being convicted for bribery and serving as a foreign agent. The New Jersey Democrat, once head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, had been convicted on all 16 counts of bribery on July 16, including accepting gold bars and helping the Egyptian and Qatari governments. Mr. Menendez resigned on July 23, after the Senate Ethics Committee announced it was launching a review into ethics violations, which could have paved the way for his expulsion. He has announced he will leave office on Aug. 23, maintaining his innocence and vowing to appeal his conviction. “While I fully intend to appeal the jury’s verdict, all the way and including to the Supreme Court, I do not want the Senate to be involved in a lengthy process that will detract from its important work,” he wrote to New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy....