Thread: MENENDEZ REFUSES TO STEP DOWN ‘I’m Not Going Anywhere’: Menendez Refuses To Step Do

Judge Halts Enforcement of 'High-Capacity' Magazine Ban...

MENENDEZ REFUSES TO STEP DOWN

Biden Now Visiting United Auto Workers After Trump Announces Visit...

...Trump Responds

Biden Makes Embarrassing Gaffe During Speech To Congressional Hispanic Caucus...

..."The Black Caucus Embodies All Those Values!"

Doctor Says There's No Way Biden Would Pass Mental Competency Test...

Federal Court Hands Biden A Surprise Loss, Judge Hands Joe A Humiliating Lecture...

Sky News Host: Laughingstock Joe Biden is “Coming Apart Before Our Eyes”...


Trump Scores Huge Endorsement From Major Union...

"TRUMPTANA"...

Trump Uses Rupert Murdoch Stepping Down To Push For McConell Ouster...

...Trump Reacts To Rupert Murdoch’s Fox News Departure, Rips Network

Gaetz Discusses 'Mini-Rebellion' Against McCarthy, Why He Won't Run For Speaker...

Former White House Aid Navarro Says Trump Paid 'About $300,000' In Legal Bills [Epoch]...

Trump White House Lawyer Sues Former Mueller Deputy For Libel...


First Congressional Dem Calls For Bob Menendez To Resign...

U.S. Senator Indicted On Bribery And Corruption...

...U.S. Attorney Lays Out Shocking Charges Against Sitting Senator

Jack Smith Files ‘Gag Order’...

...Trump Attorney Rips His Trial Dates, Indictments In Scathing Interview

Willis’ Case Against Trump A ‘Logistical Quagmire’ That Works to His Advantage...

...Alan Dershowitz Reveals Whether He Believes Trump Will Actually Be Convicted

‘I’m Not Going Anywhere’: Menendez Refuses To Step Down Despite Calls To Resign From Fellow Democrats

By Cullen McCue September 23, 2023 Updated:September 23, 2023

Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) is refusing to resign, ignoring calls from fellow Democrats, after he was indicted in connection with an alleged years-long bribery scheme involving a foreign government.
The US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York charged Menendez and his wife, Nadine Menendez, with three conspiracy counts on Friday over what prosecutors describe as a “corrupt bribery agreement that benefited the Menendez couple, three New Jersey businessmen and the government of Egypt. New Jersey’s senior senator allegedly accepted a $60,000 Mercedes Benz C-Class sedan, 13 gold bars and $566,000 in cash in exchange for providing Egyptian officials with sensitive U.S. government information that was not available to the U.S. public. Prosecutors have also accused the couple of accepting numerous additional gifts.

In response to the indictment, a number of prominent Democrats have called for Menendez to step down, including New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy. “Under our legal system, Senator Menendez and the other defendants have not been found guilty and will have the ability to present evidence disputing these charges, and we must respect the process,” Murphy said in a statement. “However, the alleged facts are so serious that they compromise the ability of Senator Menendez to effectively represent the people of our state. Therefore, I am calling for his immediate resignation.”

As calls for his resignation mount, Menendez has remained defiant. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) told reporters that Menendez has stepped down from his role as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee “until the matter is resolved.”
Menendez, who has served in the U.S. Senate since 2006, claimed that he is being targeted because of his ethnicity and vowed to clear his name. “I’m not going anywhere,” the senator said in a statement Friday.

“Those who believe in justice believe in innocence until proven guilty,” Menendez said. “I intend to continue to fight for the people of New Jersey with the same success I’ve had for the past five decades. This is the same record of success these very same leaders have lauded all along. It is not lost on me how quickly some are rushing to judge a Latino and push him out of his seat.”
Menendez narrowly avoided a federal indictment in 2017 after a jury deadlocked on bribery and corruption charges, resulting in a mistrial. He was also investigated for corruption by then-New Jersey Attorney General Chris Christie in 2006.

'I'm Not Going Anywhere': Menendez Refuses To Step Down Despite Calls To Resign From Fellow Democrats (trendingpoliticsnews.com)

'Just Allegations': Menendez Refuses To Resign Amid Bribery Scandal, Claims Seized $480K Was For 'Emergencies'

MONDAY, SEP 25, 2023 - 12:47 PM

Update (1247ET): Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) has refused to resign in the face of federal bribery charges.



"The allegations leveled against me are just that — allegations," he said at a press conference at a local community college, where he claimed that the $480,000 in cash seized at his home, found stuffed in envelopes and hidden in clothing and closets, was for 'emergencies.'

"For 30 years, I have withdrawn thousands of dollars in cash from my personal savings account, which I have kept for emergencies and because of the history of my family facing confiscation in Cuba," he claimed, adding "Now this may seem old-fashioned, but these were monies drawn from my personal savings account based on the income that I have lawfully derived over those 30 years."
"I recognize that this will be the biggest fight yet," he continued, adding that once the judicial process is complete, he expects that "not only will I be exonerated, I will still be New Jersey’s senior senator," according to the NY Times.

Speaking first in English and then in Spanish, Mr. Menendez, 69, reiterated much of the message he offered immediately after the indictment was announced. He said he was confident the case would be resolved favorably, and he urged patience “to allow all the facts to be presented.”
And he said that prosecutors had framed the facts to “be as salacious as possible.”
Standing behind the senator, against a wall, were roughly two dozen people he called “everyday people and constituents who know me.”

Menendez left without taking questions.
Watch:




Greg Price
@greg_price11
·
Follow

Sen. Menendez: "A cornerstone of the foundation of American democracy and our justice system is the principle that all people are presumed innocent until proven guilty. The court of public opinion is no substitute for our revered justice system. We cannot set aside the resumption…Show more

Watch on X

Last edited11:35 AM · Sep 25, 2023

* * *
Authored by Jonathan Turley,
Below is my column in The Hill on the indictment of Senator Robert Menendez for bribery, again. As predicted in this column, his colleagues are now expressing disgust at his corruption. However, make no mistake about it, Menendez is not being abandoned due to his corrupt inclination but his conspicuous consumption.
Here is the column:
The massive indictment of Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) and his wife has shaken Washington.



As Senate Foreign Relations chairman, Menendez is one of the most powerful Democratic members of Congress, and someone who has long been a kingmaker in the party. He has also long been accused of open and insatiable corruption.
What made Menendez a standout in Washington was not his corrupt inclinations, but his utter audacity in following them. I was able to witness that signature conduct personally on the floor of the Senate.
In 2010, I defended a federal judge, Thomas Porteous, in his impeachment trial, against charges that he had taken gifts and misused his office for personal gain. The curious thing about Senate trials is that you have a jury composed of people you could strike for cause in a real court. Menendez was among those sitting in judgment of Porteous, but he wasn’t just another face in the Senate crowd — he stood out. It was like arguing a piracy case with Captain Jack Sparrow sitting on the jury.
Menendez himself would later go on trial in 2017 in a major bribery and fraud case involving luxury gifts allegedly exchanged for official favors. Most of us expected the worst when, during jury deliberations, one juror asked the court, “What is a senator?” Menendez dodged the bullet. The jury hung and the Justice Department dropped all charges.
Now Menendez has been slapped with a massive new bribery indictment. The facts are all too familiar, with a long list of lavish gifts allegedly made in exchange for favors.
The indictment details gold bars, hundreds of thousands of dollars, furnishings and other gifts. His wife was allegedly actively involved in this corruption conspiracy and is also facing criminal charges.
During the Porteous trial, I noted that, at the time of the underlying acts, the senators themselves were accepting free lunches. It was not until later that the rules changed on such gifts. Menendez now stands accused of accepting a host of gifts at that time, including an $8,000 free flight in October 2010, in addition to luxury trips to Paris and a Caribbean villa.
Yet Menendez still demanded conviction for the Porteous, even though the judge was never charged with bribery, and free lunches and the other gifts would not be enough to even register with Menendez.
The question is whether this level of corruption is now enough for Democrats. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) recently suggested a type of Goldilocks rule for corruption. He warned that people in Washington had better be careful if they want to crack down on the Biden family’s influence-peddling.

“If that’s the new criteria, there are a lot of folks in a lot of industries — not just in politics — where people have family members and relationships and they’re trying to parlay and get a little influence and benefit in that respect. That’s hardly unique.”

It would appear that the question is not corruption, but when a little corruption is “just right.”
If these allegations against Menendez are proven, then he violated Washington’s Goldilocks rule. It would mean that Menendez pursued gifts with a reckless abandon, endangering others whose corruption was more circumspect.
Consider the timeline: It would mean that during the Porteous trial, Menendez was allegedly accepting gifts while condemning and removing from office of a judge accused of receiving gifts.
Later, after the jury hung in his first corruption trial, Menendez (according to the Justice Department) almost immediately started taking gifts from new sources.
In a town known for a certain finesse in influence peddling, Menendez broke with industry custom by allegedly accepting direct items like gold and a car. This is classic bribery stuff. There was no labyrinth of shell companies and accounts — just crude old-school corruption, with cash stuffed in clothing and gold bars squirreled away for a rainy day.
Where corrupt figures often refer to getting their beaks wet, Menendez allegedly took a headlong plunge into this pool of corruption. This city has not seen such low-grade alleged bribery since former U.S. Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.) was found with $90,000 wrapped like a po boy in his freezer.
Like Jefferson, Menendez will need to be isolated as a pariah for his conspicuous consumption. Yet the public is still being played for chumps. This entire city floats on a sea of corruption as family members and associates sell influence and access to high-ranking officials.Menendez is notorious only for the size of his appetite and the extent of his audacity.
Newsom’s Goldilocks rule for graft is certainly compelling for many in this city. For most of us, it is the very source of the problem as politicians seek to get corruption “just right.”
So get ready for politicians to suddenly declare themselves “shocked, shocked” by the allegations against Menendez. These are the same people who made Menendez the head of the Foreign Relations Committee, twice. They gave him the power of leverage with countries where bribery is an accepted practice. It was like making a known arsonist the CEO of the International Paper Corporation.
In the end, the problem is not Menendez. It is the array of other politicians who enabled him while dismissing his reputation for corruption. To use Newsom’s words, Menendez is “hardly unique” for cashing in on his position. That is precisely the problem.

'Just Allegations': Menendez Refuses To Resign Amid Bribery Scandal, Claims Seized $480K Was For 'Emergencies' | ZeroHedge