[NJ] Senator Menendez indicted

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Fri Sep 22, 2023 10:09 am

I did a search, but we only had discussions in the "random" thread. This feels worthy of its own post:

Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., has been indicted on federal bribery charges, the Justice Department announced Friday.

The indictment alleged that Menendez and his wife, Nadine, received “hundreds of thousands of dollars” in bribes and used the senator’s influence to enrich several businessmen from New Jersey, as well as the Egyptian government.

Menendez received cash, gold bars, payments toward a home mortgage, compensation for a low- or no-show job, a luxury vehicle and other items of value, the filing said.

The indictment also alleged that Menendez provided sensitive U.S. government information and pressured an official at the Agriculture Department for the purpose of protecting Egyptian American businessman Wael Hanna and the government of Egypt. Menendez interfered in an investigation undertaken by the New Jersey attorney general into New Jersey businessman Jose Uribe, it said.

I'm quite interested to see how this goes - you know, with the current level of acceptable corruption in government.

malchior · Post by **malchior** » Fri Sep 22, 2023 10:24 am

So surprising.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Fri Sep 22, 2023 10:25 am

He was charged in 2015 with illegally accepting favors from a Florida eye doctor, including flights on a private jet, three nights at a five-star hotel in Paris and more than $700,000 in political contributions.

The case ended in a mistrial after jurors were unable to reach a unanimous verdict. Federal prosecutors decided not to retry him.

I guess he should have gotten on the Supreme Court instead.

El Guapo · Post by **El Guapo** » Fri Sep 22, 2023 10:26 am

I thought the Supreme Court effectively legalized bribery? Or did they literally hand him bags of cash in a bag as he handed them a note that said "IOU one official act in exchange for sack of cash"?

malchior · Post by **malchior** » Fri Sep 22, 2023 10:28 am

I'm thinking the same thing but gold bars (if true and provable) are probably close enough to bags of cash and it appears he actually did official things. We'll see.

His true mistake was to not do the obvious thing to live this lifestyle which is ... become a Supreme Court justice. Then all would be well. (Edit: Damn it all - bammed!)

El Guapo · Post by **El Guapo** » Fri Sep 22, 2023 10:51 am

I don't live in NJ so don't know Menendez all that well but my impression is that he's an ass and a dope.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Fri Sep 22, 2023 10:54 am

El Guapo wrote: ↑Fri Sep 22, 2023 10:51 am I don't live in NJ so don't know Menendez all that well but my impression is that he's an ass and a dope.

I don't have my pulse on the finger of the (D) party here in NJ, but I'm pretty confident in saying he's not liked. I cannot imagine a scenario where anyone will be standing up to defend him.

malchior · Post by **malchior** » Fri Sep 22, 2023 11:10 am

El Guapo wrote: ↑Fri Sep 22, 2023 10:51 am I don't live in NJ so don't know Menendez all that well but my impression is that he's an ass and a dope.

He is a product of the environment. NJ is still incredibly dirty and he comes from the center of the rot here which is Hudson County. There is a lot of slimy money there. It flows especially heavily from developers. That is why it was less than shocking to hear that developers were involved. That is the world that spawned Trump. They are lowlifes, thugs, and creeps. To become powerful and escape that world...requires the same. He had to do favors for people to survive and thrive early in his career. He probably just never gave up the habit or needed to it for other reasons. But in the end ass and dope is a kind characterization.

Pyperkub · Post by **Pyperkub** » Fri Sep 22, 2023 11:14 am

El Guapo wrote: ↑Fri Sep 22, 2023 10:26 am I thought the Supreme Court effectively legalized bribery? Or did they literally hand him bags of cash in a bag as he handed them a note that said "IOU one official act in exchange for sack of cash"?

Never fear - Trump 2.0 will pardon him.

Can't have a precedent preventing the ownership of public officials... See Blagojevichand Kerik

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Fri Sep 22, 2023 11:39 am

Will Biden's weaponized DOJ stop at NOTHING?? Oh, wait...

Unagi · Post by **Unagi** » Fri Sep 22, 2023 12:09 pm

Holman wrote: ↑Fri Sep 22, 2023 11:39 am Will Biden's weaponized DOJ stop at NOTHING?? Oh, wait...

My thoughts exactly.

Jaymann · Post by **Jaymann** » Fri Sep 22, 2023 12:09 pm

Does he have a brother?

gilraen · Post by **gilraen** » Fri Sep 22, 2023 12:10 pm

I thought Menendez had already been indicted a long time ago...I guess I was thinking of the 2015 mistrial.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Fri Sep 22, 2023 12:58 pm

In a bold move, he's declaring his innocence:

“They wrote these charges as they wanted; the facts are not as presented,” Menendez, D-N.J., said in a statement. “Prosecutors did that the last time and look what a trial demonstrates. People should remember that before accepting the prosecutor’s version.”

...

“For years, forces behind the scenes have repeatedly attempted to silence my voice and dig my political grave,” the 69-year-old Menendez said in the statement. “Since this investigation was leaked nearly a year ago, there has been an active smear campaign of anonymous sources and innuendos to create an air of impropriety where none exists.”

GreenGoo · Post by **GreenGoo** » Fri Sep 22, 2023 1:22 pm

Tell it to the judge...

malchior · Post by **malchior** » Fri Sep 22, 2023 2:04 pm

Despite Menendez and his protestations it seems that the FBI apparently got the goods on him. I just skimmed the indictment. It details that they found nearly a half million dollars in cash in his home and his wife's safety deposit boxes. Several of the envelopes had the DNA of one of the co-defendants and it appears they have flipped that co-defendant.

Unagi · Post by **Unagi** » Fri Sep 22, 2023 2:25 pm

Smoove_B wrote: ↑Fri Sep 22, 2023 12:58 pm
“... an air of impropriety where none exists...”

That translates to: "Yes, I did these things, but I am allowed to, it's all within ethical norms."

GreenGoo wrote: ↑Fri Sep 22, 2023 1:22 pm Tell it to the judge...

Indeed.

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Fri Sep 22, 2023 5:16 pm

Jaymann wrote: ↑Fri Sep 22, 2023 12:09 pm Does he have a brother?

Well, he has a son currently in the House of Representatives. Family business and all that.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Fri Sep 22, 2023 6:22 pm

Holman wrote: ↑Fri Sep 22, 2023 5:16 pm
Jaymann wrote: ↑Fri Sep 22, 2023 12:09 pm Does he have a brother?
Well, he has a son currently in the House of Representatives. Family business and all that.

Clunky reference.

Random trivia - I attended a wedding reception at a restaurant that was a former home they owned.

EDIT: Our NJ governor has apparently publicly called for Senator Menendez to resign. Ouchie.

malchior · Post by **malchior** » Fri Sep 22, 2023 9:57 pm

Such a dirtbag. He got caught red-handed criming and of course it's all about how they're out to get him. What an example.

malchior · Post by **malchior** » Sun Sep 24, 2023 7:12 pm

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Mon Sep 25, 2023 11:03 am

Local news is suggesting that at a press conference scheduled for later today, Menendez will be announcing his re-election campaign...while commenting on being indicted by the feds.

Absolutely insane.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Mon Sep 25, 2023 11:04 am

Why not? All the cool kids are running for reelection with indictments these days.

malchior · Post by **malchior** » Mon Sep 25, 2023 11:29 am

It doesn't help that only one Democratic senator has put pressure on him. The magnificent US Senate. "The World's Greatest Deliberative..."...um...cesspool?

malchior · Post by **malchior** » Mon Sep 25, 2023 12:23 pm

And done. He said he was stashing cash for "emergencies" and didn't address the gold bars at all. Schumer has said he stands by him and will wait for the outcome of a trial. Shameful. Is it any wonder that we don't trust these people? The Democrats had an opportunity to look serious and above the fray and choose not to do so. I don't know why but it is hard to not see this as a huge mistake considering all the stakes.

What's clear is that elected officials are pretty uniformly not acting decently and Democrats out of government are calling for him to resign. Which suggests to me at least that ... donors are the reason that Menendez is getting the soft touch. Maybe I'm wrong but it's sad that it is a real possibility.

Edit: LOL. One of my ex-FBI colleagues said he caught something in his public announcement that'll possibly haunt him at trial. Menendez claimed that he has been stashing hundreds of dollars for 30-years and that's what the FBI found. Ex-FBI said you have to bet they followed the usual procedure of cataloging all the cash with all identifying information including *year of issue*.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Mon Sep 25, 2023 1:09 pm

What I don't know is whether or not he's just really stupid (keeping envelopes of cash) or being so deeply corrupt that acting so casual with cash (and gold bars, JFC!!) was a function of believing he would never be caught.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Mon Sep 25, 2023 1:14 pm

Menendez pulling the race card immediately puts him near the top of my list of absolute scum. He's a blight on the Latino community. He and Santos will be forming the new League of Extortionate Gentlemen.

malchior · Post by **malchior** » Mon Sep 25, 2023 1:19 pm

It's also a ever so slightly softer form of attack on rule of law that Trump uses. Prosecutors get it wrong. They are racist against me.

And a bunch of garbage Senators are all too willing to sign up for that in their silence.

My biggest disappointment? Booker. I bothered to try to ring his office but didn't get through. I imagine lots of folks are ringing in his ears right now. Too bad the only ones who count have legal bribes to offer.

$iljanus · Post by **$iljanus** » Mon Sep 25, 2023 2:14 pm

It was a little refreshing to read about run of the mill corruption and influence peddling vs the current attempts at destroying our democratic institutions by Trump. Envelopes of cash, gold bars, no show job for the spouse. It's rather old school.

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Mon Sep 25, 2023 5:36 pm

Today Fetterman became the first Dem senator to call for Menendez to resign.

(He also said that his campaign would be returning campaign donations from Menendez "in envelopes stuffed with $100 bills.")

Sherrod Brown then became the second Dem to call for resignation.

waitingtoconnect · Post by **waitingtoconnect** » Mon Sep 25, 2023 7:00 pm

What a gift for the republicans given it passes the very high bar the Supreme Court has said is corruption - and the democrats won’t act because they don’t want to lose their majority….

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Mon Sep 25, 2023 9:03 pm

waitingtoconnect wrote: ↑Mon Sep 25, 2023 7:00 pm What a gift for the republicans given it passes the very high bar the Supreme Court has said is corruption - and the democrats won’t act because they don’t want to lose their majority….

They won't lose their majority.

Unless I'm mistaken, the Dem governor of NJ can appoint a replacement immediately. There's no wait for a special election.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Mon Sep 25, 2023 9:04 pm

The operate questions are (1) What's NJ's procedure for filling a vacant Senate seat? and (2) how long does it take? It's one thing if the governor can name a temporary replacement, and something else entirely if a special election is needed.

(edit) D'oh!

malchior · Post by **malchior** » Mon Sep 25, 2023 10:12 pm

Yep - this is a no brainer. Menendez should have resigned during the first indictment but he got lucky. This time the allegations are far more substantial and have far more evidence. He is likely hoping for a long delay to get through the next election and then maybe for fate to help him. It seems extremely likely he would be convicted barring something extraordinary happening.

In the end, this is 100% about him being a bottom feeding scumbag. It is more than a little disheartening to watch the Democrats in the Senate essentially destroy their credibility and hold on any moral high ground. Booker not even commenting? He needs to say something because he just looks awful right now. The Newark Star-Ledger editor is banging a drum to get a comment out of Booker. His silence is TERRIBLE POLITICS.

malchior · Post by **malchior** » Tue Sep 26, 2023 11:27 am

Phew. Booker did the right think and called for Menendez to resign. As I mentioned I tried calling his office yesterday and eventually tried a few more times to register my angst with his silence, so I imagine his lines were jammed with similarly concerned citizens wondering why he was ducking the question.

NY Times

Senator Cory Booker called on Senator Robert Menendez, his fellow New Jersey Democrat, to resign Tuesday morning, ending days of silence after Mr. Menendez was indicted on bribery charges.

As New Jersey’s junior senator, Mr. Booker often has described Mr. Menendez, the senior senator, as a friend, ally and mentor. His decision to condemn Mr. Menendez, and to join the growing chorus of state and federal officials calling on him to step down, demonstrates the deepening crisis facing a senator who until last week had occupied one of the most powerful and secure positions in American politics.

“The details of the allegations against Senator Menendez are of such a nature that the faith and trust of New Jerseyans as well as those he must work with in order to be effective have been shaken to the core,” Mr. Booker said, adding: “I believe stepping down is best for those Senator Menendez has spent his life serving.”

Octavious · Post by **Octavious** » Tue Sep 26, 2023 11:49 am

Why don't we follow the Republican playbook deny, deny and rally the troops?

malchior · Post by **malchior** » Tue Sep 26, 2023 11:56 am

It was looking like they were going to go with the other GOP playbook of ignore...ignore...ignore. The dam seems to be breaking because...come on...like let's have minimum standards here folks. Read the indictment for obvious reasons why calling for his immediate resignation was in order.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Tue Sep 26, 2023 12:09 pm

I was thinking about this a bit this morning. I think it really comes down to consequences, mainly the lack of them. If he was a teacher or a police officer they'd switch him over to "administrative work" while the court system processed everything accordingly. But how do you do that to a Senator? A House member? He had to resign from committee appointments, but he still is able to vote on whatever business comes before the Senate. So now you're hoping his individual sense of responsibility (the same individual that took bribes) would take over and they'd resign for the greater good of the party. But he knows he's having zero impact on how people think of the (D) or Senators, so it's always in his best interest to stay exactly where he is. The party is doing the bare minimum because they also know any appearance of in-fighting will be used against them somehow - even when they would be making reasonable calls for a corrupt POS to resign.

So then you say, ok, well maybe we need a policy that would actually have some teeth when a Senator or House member is indicted. And then you remember the goal of the current GOP and that clearly won't work either.

So yeah, it is not only exposing how selfish individualism rewards politicians, but it reinforces what we keep seeing - that the system doesn't know how to address these types of problems in a reasonable manner.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Tue Sep 26, 2023 3:05 pm

malchior wrote: ↑Tue Sep 26, 2023 11:56 am It was looking like they were going to go with the other GOP playbook of ignore...ignore...ignore. The dam seems to be breaking because...come on...like let's have minimum standards here folks. Read the indictment for obvious reasons why calling for his immediate resignation was in order.

And thank god they did. They'd have no ground to stand on if they started doing the same thing that they want the GOP to stop doing.

malchior · Post by **malchior** » Tue Sep 26, 2023 3:53 pm

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.