Leah noted yesterday that New Jersey Democratic Senator Bob Menendez has been hit with even more federal criminal charges this week. We'll get to those below, but first, let's recap some of the relevant history here: The Garden State's senior Senator was indicted back in 2015 on corruption charges, but beat the rap a few years later. He handily won re-election in 2018, in a deep blue state and a deep blue year. Then came the extraordinary new federal charges filed in September of last year, which entailed taking elaborate bribes and aiding foreign governments while chairing the upper chamber's Foreign Relations Committee:
The indictment alleges that Menendez and his wife accepted "hundreds of thousands of dollars of bribes in exchange for using" the senator's "power and influence to ... seek to protect and enrich" the businessmen. "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. Prosecutors allege that Menendez "promised to and did use his influence and power and breach his official duty in ways that benefited the Government of Egypt," as well as Egyptian-American businessman Wael Hana. The indictment also says that Menendez "provided sensitive U.S. government information" that "secretly aided" the government of Egypt...When they got there, they discovered approximately $500,000 of cash stuffed into envelopes and closets." "Some of the cash was stuffed in the senator's jacket pockets, some of the envelopes of cash contain Daibes' fingerprints, Daibes' DNA," Williams said. The agents also discovered gold worth over $100,000.
Menendez lashed out at the prosecution and offered ludicrous excuses for the cash and gold found in his possession. Many Democrats expressed "concerns" or issued perfuntory statements calling for Menendez to step down, but then almost everyone moved on (Sen. John Fetterman has been a notable exception, as he's continued to press the issue fairly aggressively). Another round of charges against Menendez arrived in early January, this time involving another foreign government:
U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez used his international clout to help a friend get a multimillion-dollar deal with a Qatari investment fund, partly by taking actions favorable to Qatar’s government, federal prosecutors said Tuesday in a revised indictment. The new allegations deepen the legal challenges for Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, who already was charged with wielding his political influence to secretly advance Egypt’s interests. The superseding indictment in New York said the senator and his wife accepted bribes of gold bars and cash from New Jersey real estate developer Fred Daibes as a reward for several corrupt acts that included his help securing a major investment from the Qatari fund. Prosecutors said Menendez introduced Daibes to a member of Qatar’s royal family who was also a principal in the investment firm, met personally with Qatari officials and made public statements supportive of Qatar while the real estate deal was being negotiated.
And a few months later, earlier this week, even more charges were added to the pile:
Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and his wife Nadine were charged Tuesday with lying to federal investigators in a new, expanded indictment accusing them of accepting gold bars and cash to dole out favors to local businessmen and foreign governments. Both Menendez, 70, and Nadine were charged with new obstruction of justice and additional bribery counts in the fourth version of an indictment unsealed by federal prosecutors in Manhattan.vThe married couple, alongside co-defendants Wael Hana and Fred Daibes, are now charged with 18 counts — 16 of which involve the senator — as part of a “corrupt relationship” to benefit the New Jersey businessmen, the Egyptian government and Qatar, the revised indictment shows. The alleged bribes included more than $566,000 in cash, roughly $100,000 in gold bars, home mortgage payments, payments for a “low-or-no-show job,” a Mercedes-Benz convertible, and even exercise machines and an air purifier. Previous indictments charged the senator with wire fraud, extortion, bribery and acting as a foreign agent for Egypt between 2018 and 2022 — while serving as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
This man remains an active and voting member of the United States Senate, unlike former Congressman George Santos, the New York Repubican who was ousted from the lower chamber following his criminal indictment for serious but less weighty alleged crimes. Despite clinging to a tiny majority margin in the House, GOP leadership allowed the explosion of Santos, knowing they'd be in danger of losing his seat (which they subsequently did). Yet Senate Democrats have evidently decided that their own razor-thin majority is too important to jeopardize -- even temporarily, and even though they're in almost no danger of losing control of that seat. So Menendez serves on, casting votes and even receiving classified briefings. And the 51-49 balance of power remains intact.
Please bear this object lesson in mind next time any of these people launches into another sermon about the sacred duty of putting "country over party." They haven't lifted a finger to remove a colleague who has been indicted for selling out his country in order to enrich himself (again, this makes Santos' alleged crimes look like relative child play), so they are in no position to lecture anyone. I'll leave you with this useless answer from the Senate Majority Leader. Chuck is "disappointed," you see, but he's not disappointed to the extent that he's willing to actually do anything about it:
Q: Should Sen. Menendez resign?
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) March 6, 2024
SCHUMER: "I'm very disappointed"
Q: "Why are you OK with him serving in your caucus, sitting on committees, attending classified briefings when he's been charged with bribery, conspiracy, and obstruction..."
SCHUMER: "I'm deeply disappointed" pic.twitter.com/RfiVd6rgvj
In case you were wondering, did Schumer weigh in on the expulsion of George Santos, in the chamber he doesn't control? He sure did.
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