[NJ] Senator Menendez indicted

[Blackhawk]

Absolutely. They should be shouting it with bullhorns, and collecting sound bytes for the next campaign.

[Smoove_B]

Bernie, slinging it

Sen. Menendez should resign. If he doesn’t, a Senate Ethics Committee investigation must go forward immediately.

[Blackhawk]

Senate Ethics Committee? Have they voted on whether to implement ethics yet?

[Smoove_B]

Senate Ethics Committee? Have they voted on whether to implement ethics yet?

Important to note:

Pursuant to Senate Rule 25, the committee is limited to six members, and is equally divided between Democrats and Republicans. This effectively means that either party can veto any action taken by the committee.

[waitingtoconnect]

I’d love it if he decides to try to defect to the republicans.

[hepcat]

He’s most likely seeking advice from Ken Paxton right now.

[Smoove_B]

New charges:

Federal prosecutors on Thursday announced an additional charge against New Jersey Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez and his wife, alleging they conspired to have the senator act as a foreign agent of Egypt.

The superseding indictment filed against Menendez, who was chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee at the time of the alleged actions, adds a new dimension to the case by alleging a US senator was working on behalf of another country.

Menendez and his wife, Nadine Arslanian Menendez, were indicted last month on corruption-related offenses, and are accused of accepting “hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes” in exchange for the senator’s influence.

[hepcat]

Menendez, Soprano. Tomato, Tomatoh.

[LawBeefaroni]

Menendez, Soprano. Tomato, Tomatoh.

https://apnews.com/article/menendez-bri ... 0f45ae294a

The New Jersey attorney general’s office has opened an inquiry into how local law enforcement handled an investigation into a fatal car crash that involved the then-future wife of U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, according to a law enforcement official familiar with the review.

Nadine Menendez had been dating the New Jersey Democrat for just under a year when she hit a man with her car on Dec. 12, 2018, in the town of Bogota. Richard Koop, 49, died almost instantly when he was hit while crossing the street in the dark near his home.

Menendez, then known by her maiden name Nadine Arslanian, wasn’t tested for drugs or alcohol at the scene and Bogota police quickly concluded she wasn’t at fault and allowed her to leave the scene.

The [recent] indictment said Nadine Menendez needed that new car because she had wrecked hers in an “accident.” A New Jersey businessman is accused of buying her a $60,000 Mercedes in exchange for the senator trying to influence a criminal case involving one of his employees.

So she wrecks her car by killing a guy and then has Bobby replace it with a bribe car. Horrible people.

[malchior]

Mendendez banned from all Senators intelligence briefing on Israel.

Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) will not be attending an all-senators classified briefing on Israel on Wednesday, after some of his colleagues aired concerns that his presence would risk national security.

The former chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee faces federal charges of bribery and conspiring to act as a foreign agent for the Egyptian government.

[Unagi]

Um yeah, good call.

[LawBeefaroni]

Flabbergasted that they made the correct call. But they did.

[Carpet_pissr]

OTOH, shouldn't there be some kind of protocol in place (maybe there is) instead "fortunately, a few of his concerned colleagues said something about it and it was decided that yes, probably not a great idea"?! FFS.

Surely there is something on the books like an if/then clause about espionage/foreign agency, and continuing to receive intel...please tell me there is.

[Smoove_B]

Like Santos, like Gaetz, like any number of other politicians he's only been charged. There aren't any regulations that state elected officials charged with specific crimes need to do [x], with the exception of (I think) him losing a chair position while being charged.

On the one hand, it's insane. On the other, you can kind of understand why the act of charging someone with a crime shouldn't then result in complete removal from the position (even temporarily) as it's pretty clear that would be politically weaponized.

So instead, we get to treat our politicians like "special citizens" that are mostly above the law.

[malchior]

Speaking generally all Senator's have access to classified intelligence assessments but only a subset see the information about sources, etc. This was more a face saving measure that came as the result of Fetterman making a big deal out of it. I frankly appreciate him for that. Maybe he is breaking glass but it's time for folks to break glass and stop pretending that things are normal.

[Blackhawk]

Like Santos, like Gaetz, like any number of other politicians he's only been charged. There aren't any regulations that state elected officials charged with specific crimes need to do [x], with the exception of (I think) him losing a chair position while being charged.

On the one hand, it's insane. On the other, you can kind of understand why the act of charging someone with a crime shouldn't then result in complete removal from the position (even temporarily) as it's pretty clear that would be politically weaponized.

So instead, we get to treat our politicians like "special citizens" that are mostly above the law.

Something something proven guilty. I'm a strong believer in not dishing out consequences for actions prior to those actions being proven. "Administrative leave" and other temporary limits, sure - it's sometimes necessary to protect people or for liability reasons. But you don't burn down someone's life until it's been confirmed.

[Smoove_B]

Absolutely, yes. But there's nothing at all like "administrative leave" for a sitting Senator. He self-recused himself from intelligence briefings. He can still vote on legislation, attend other meetings and presumably gain access to things the average citizen can not - all while being charged as a foreign agent.

I don't have an answer for how you deal with that, but clearly reliance on the defendant to do the "right thing" isn't something we should all be hoping for.

[malchior]

Part of me also just wonders what the heck is wrong with the Democratic leadership. I don't understand how they have remained silent on the issue. These are serious, serious charges. Way more serious than the previous indictment that several jurors voted to convict him on. He wasn't convicted but he wasn't exonerated either. So he owes it to the people he serves to step aside to deal with these serious questions about his ethics, credibility, and loyalty to the United States.

I mean look at this clip. I don't know what the hesitation is here. He goes up right to the line and then blinks. Why? Moments like this are why so many people like me don't think our nation has a future as the democracy that we grew up with. There is just too much rot.

"I've had serious discussions". Like Menendez will reveal your stash of gold bars if you push too hard? I mean I don't get it. It just makes Schumer look shady.

[Unagi]

I agree. It's asinine. And I think obviously so.

And it's not just like a political misstep. It seems boneheaded, as the political points one scores here would be legit and large.

Not only is he losing capital, he could have gained some.

[Smoove_B]

Back in court today:

U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez returns to court Monday to enter an expected not guilty plea to a conspiracy charge alleging he acted as an agent of the Egyptian government when he chaired the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Menendez, 69, was scheduled to appear in the afternoon before Judge Sidney H. Stein at federal court in Manhattan.

...

Prosecutors said the senator and his wife, Nadine Menendez, accepted bribes of cash, gold bars and a luxury car over the past five years from three New Jersey businessmen in exchange for a variety of corrupt acts.

The other defendants entered not guilty charges to a superseding indictment last week. The senator was permitted to delay his arraignment so he could tend to Senate duties.

Seems reasonable. Can't have you rushing to court to address charges you're conspiring with other nations while you have pressing duties in the Senate - no rush; when it works for you we'll be happy to help.

[Unagi]

Can't have you rushing to court to address charges you're conspiring with other nations while you have pressing duties in the Senate - no rush; when it works for you we'll be happy to help.

IKR !

[Holman]

I'm waiting for a Republican to call for Menendez's resignation. Plenty of Democrats have done so.

Why is that?

[Alefroth]

Because Democrats are the bigger party?

[Blackhawk]

Now, now. Don't be ungracious.

[Pyperkub]

Right and it's hard to not think that the Democrats are missing an opportunity here. They could be highlighting that they hold their own accountable since exactly 0 GOP Senators have made a comment on it. Why? They can't because of Trump / Santos / etc. Seems like an easy way to do the right thing and make it a stand out moment.

An article

https://www.publicnotice.co/p/bob-menen ... ns-condemn

The GOP’s partisan interest in capitalizing on Democratic failures is less powerful than the GOP’s partisan interest in fighting for corruption. Republicans have become a party that believes in blanket impunity for the powerful

Sent from my SM-S908U1 using Tapatalk

[malchior]

The whole thing makes me disgusted with the Democratic leadership in the Senate. Schumer still won't call for his resignation. Who knows why. McConnell was asked about it and said it was Schumer's problem and quipped he was glad that Mendendez wasn't a Republican. Obviously. It makes Schumer like even more like a putz.

And then the committee assignment? He is charged with a felony for acting as a foreign agent yet he still sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. WTAF.

[malchior]

The only downside to kicking the corrupt Menendez out eventually? A different corrupt kleptocrat. It's NJ. Always...always...bet on corruption. Still this is really gross. The whole thing makes me want to take a shower.

I'm secretly hoping the lawsuit about the nakedly corrupt "County Line" system works out. There are challenges to our slimy system where every county has a party boss who decides where the candidate appears on the ballot (really).

Walled off and under renovation for nearly six years, the governor’s wing in New Jersey’s 231-year-old State House reopened in April after a gut rehab that was years overdue.

The Democratic governor, Philip D. Murphy, moved into a hub of elegantly appointed rooms on the first floor. His wife, Tammy Murphy, took over a maze of offices roughly as large, one flight up. Her prominent spot in the State House underscored their close partnership, a bond each has said propels their 30-year marriage and has helped to define Mr. Murphy’s two terms in Trenton.

Still, that did not stop some capitol staff members from wryly dubbing it the his-and-her suite and noting that her expansive new work space dwarfed the office she had been using before.

Now, Ms. Murphy is preparing to expand her reach even further, laying the groundwork to run for the U.S. Senate seat held by New Jersey’s embattled senior senator, Robert Menendez, next year.

...

By many measures her campaign would be even less traditional than most.

She would run as a Democrat in a blue state, but she regularly voted as a Republican until 2014, even as her husband was finance chairman of the Democratic National Committee and the ambassador to Germany appointed by President Barack Obama.

She has been a champion for improving New Jersey’s poor maternal and infant mortality rates and played key roles in both of her husband’s campaigns. But she describes herself as a homemaker on tax forms and has never held elected office.\

...

Some Democrats were quick to pan news of Ms. Murphy’s possible candidacy as a bald display of nepotism.

“I was incensed,” said Patricia Kennedy, 70, who is active in Democratic politics in Waretown, N.J., on the Jersey Shore, and said she twice voted for Mr. Murphy. “I ask myself one question: If she were not married to Phil Murphy would she be running? The answer is a resounding, ‘No.’”

...

In New Jersey primary races, it is often political leaders from the state’s densely populated northern counties who have the most say. That is because they control who gets to run on the so-called line — a ballot placement that is often tantamount to victory.

It is these party leaders whom Mr. Murphy and his wife have been courting most aggressively, according to three people familiar with the conversations who did not want to be identified saying anything that could be considered critical of the governor.

The leaders of two northern counties, Essex and Middlesex, have jobs as lobbyists with business before the state, limiting the likelihood that they might openly oppose a governor with two years left in his term — and control over the next two multibillion-dollar state budgets.

The Democratic chairman in Bergen County, the state’s most populous county, was chosen by Mr. Murphy in February for a coveted job leading the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority. And a Democratic candidate for Hudson County executive recently posted a picture with Ms. Murphy on social media.

[Smoove_B]

NJ politics are in turmoil regardless. The Democrats in the southern part of the state are apparently running "phantom" candidates for the upcoming election to siphon away independents and "progressive" Republicans running in contested areas. The fact that they'd even resort to this suggests the party as a whole is concerned. But yeah, a mess; same as it ever was.

When I saw that Tammy was being floated as his replacement my eyes nearly rolled out of my skull.

[Smoove_B]

What are the chances?

At least four gold bars found in the FBI search of Sen. Robert Menendez’s home had been directly linked to a New Jersey businessman now accused of bribing the state's senior senator, Bergen County prosecutor records from a 2013 robbery case show.

The businessman, Fred Daibes, reported to police he was the victim of an armed robbery in 2013, and he asked police to recover the gold bars stolen from him. In the 2013 robbery, Daibes reported $500,000 in cash and 22 gold bars were stolen, Edgewater police records show. Police later caught four suspects with the stolen goods.

...

"Each gold bar has its own serial number," Daibes said to investigators in a 2014 transcript made by prosecutors and police who recovered — and returned to Daibes — the stolen valuables. "They’re all stamped…you’ll never see two stamped the same way."

A decade later, the FBI said it found four gold bars with unique serial numbers in the Clifton home of Menendez and his wife Nadine.

In the 2023 bribery indictment against the Democratic senator and Daibes, prosecutors included photos of some of the alleged bribes found in Menendez’s home, including four gold bars. The serial numbers of the four gold bars in the bribery indictment appear to be an exact match to four of the gold bars Daibes certified as stolen and returned to him in the 2013 robbery case.

[malchior]

Facing a third indictment for accepting bribes for Qatar Menendez makes a Trump-y speech blasting the prosecutors. An utter disgrace.

Edit: Just to clarify the article refers to a second indictment but it is indeed his *third* total indictment. The first one ended with a hung jury a few years back.

Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) on Tuesday delivered a defiant and at times emotional speech, denying he had received lavish gifts in exchange for aiding the Qatari government and showing no signs he is prepared to resign.

The New Jersey Democrat said on the Senate floor, a week after federal prosecutors filed a second superseding indictment against him, he received “absolutely nothing” from Qatar and intensely criticized what he argued is a relentless campaign by prosecutors to get him to resign.