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Bob Menendez might actually be going to prison this time

wildcat09

By wildcat09
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wildcat09

wildcat09 29355

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https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/22/nyregion/robert-menendez-indicted.html

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Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey, the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, has been charged in a sweeping federal corruption indictment, the authorities said on Friday.

The three-count indictment, which also charges the senator’s wife and three New Jersey businessmen, accuses him of using his official position in a wide range of corrupt schemes at home and abroad. In one, he sought to benefit the government of Egypt, including secretly providing it with sensitive U.S. government information, while in two others, he aimed to influence criminal investigations of two New Jersey businessmen, one of whom was a longtime fund-raiser for Mr. Menendez.

Toward that end, the senator, a Democrat, recommended that President Biden nominate a lawyer, Philip R. Sellinger, for the post of U.S. attorney for New Jersey because he believed he could influence the prosecution of the fund-raiser. Mr. Sellinger, who was ultimately confirmed for the post, was not accused of wrongdoing.

In another scheme, Mr. Menendez used his position to try to disrupt the investigation and prosecution of a businessman by the New Jersey State attorney general’s office, according to the indictment.

In exchange for all those actions, the indictment said, the senator and his wife, Nadine Menendez, accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of bribes, including cash, gold bars, payments toward a home mortgage, a luxury vehicle and other valuable things.

Ms. Menendez’s lawyer, David Schertler, said that his client denied criminal wrongdoing.

“Mrs. Menendez denies any criminal conduct and will vigorously contest these charges in court,” Mr. Schertler said.

Representatives for the senator and the three businessmen could not immediately be reached for comment on the charges.

The charges against Mr. Menendez, 69, follow a lengthy investigation by the F.B.I. and federal prosecutors in Manhattan and comes nearly six years after his trial on unrelated claims of corruption ended with a hung jury.

The businessmen named in the indictment, which was unsealed in Manhattan federal court, are Fred Daibes, a prominent New Jersey real estate developer and fund-raiser for Mr. Menendez; Wael Hana, a longtime friend of Ms. Menendez’s who founded a halal meat certification business and Jose Uribe, who works in the trucking and insurance business.

It has been known for some time that Mr. Menendez was under federal scrutiny, and he has said he was willing to assist investigators and was confident the matter would be “successfully closed.”

The 39-page indictment charges the senator, his wife and the businessmen with conspiracy to commit bribery and conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud. It also charges Mr. Menendez and his wife with conspiracy to commit extortion under the color of official right, meaning using his official position to force someone to give them something of value.

The indictment will quickly resound in Washington and in New Jersey.

Mr. Menendez is already facing at least one Democratic challenger in his planned run for re-election to a fourth term in the Senate, and the Republican mayor of Mendham Borough, N.J., has also announced that she will compete for the seat.

If Mr. Menendez were to step down before the end of his term, New Jersey’s Democratic governor, Philip D. Murphy, would be responsible for appointing a successor.

Mr. Daibes, who pleaded guilty last year to a financial crime and is awaiting sentencing, is among a small group of builders responsible for converting parts of the polluted Hudson River waterfront into a bustling hive of residential and commercial activity.

Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, and James Smith, the assistant director in charge of the F.B.I.’s New York office, are to announce the charges at a news conference Friday morning.

Mr. Menendez, his wife and their three co-defendants are expected to appear in Manhattan federal court on Wednesday, according to Nicholas Biase, a spokesman for the Southern District.

The charges are not the senator’s first encounter with the law. In 2015, Mr. Menendez was indicted in New Jersey on bribery charges in what federal prosecutors called a scheme between the senator and a wealthy eye doctor to trade political favors for gifts worth close to $1 million, including luxury vacations in the Caribbean and campaign contributions. Mr. Menendez’s corruption trial ended in a mistrial in November 2017, after the jury said it was unable to reach a verdict.

The judge later acquitted Mr. Menendez of several charges and the Justice Department dismissed the others.

As chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, Mr. Menendez is one of Washington’s most influential Democrats.

He climbed there rung by rung, quickly, a consummate survivor.

The son of Cuban immigrants, he rose to power in Hudson County, a famously rough political proving ground in northern New Jersey, where he began serving on the school board in Union City as a 20-year-old college student. By 32, he was mayor. Mr. Menendez won the post after wearing a bulletproof vest to testify against Mafia members and a mentor, William V. Musto, the city’s mayor who was convicted of taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in kickbacks from a contractor hired to build schools.

Mr. Menendez served in the State Assembly and Senate before being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives; he was appointed to the U.S. Senate in 2005 to fill the vacancy created when Jon Corzine left the body to become governor.

Soon after being sworn in to the Senate, Mr. Menendez faced a federal inquiry led by Chris Christie, then the U.S. attorney for New Jersey, over payments by a nonprofit group that rented a house he owned. It went nowhere, but shadowed him for nearly six years.

You almost have to admire the man's commitment to criming. The Supreme Court has worked so hard to try to eliminate bribery as a crime almost entirely, but he was determined to find a way. 

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'stache

'stache 21824

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1 hour ago, wildcat09 said:

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/22/nyregion/robert-menendez-indicted.html

You almost have to admire the man's commitment to criming. The Supreme Court has worked so hard to try to eliminate bribery as a crime almost entirely, but he was determined to find a way. 

Well, he's a democrat, so....

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wildcat09

wildcat09 29355

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7 minutes ago, Incredulity said:

Is there any information about the timeline of the crimes for the new charges?  I guess if you beat the rap once you start to feel invincible.  Crazy shit.

It all started in 2018, so that seems essentially what happened.

Egypt paying in gold bars seems a little too on the nose:

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Brisketexan

Brisketexan 105161

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4 hours ago, C-Man said:

I can only imagine the histrionics that would be coming from the GOP if Menendez was one of their own.

3 hours ago, Bookman said:

Why is Biden weaponizing the DOJ against a Democrat?

48 minutes ago, Satchel said:

Does this mean his poll numbers will go up?

Bullseye on every one of these.  Now, imagine that Menendez was MAGA:

"WITCH HUNT!  WEAPONIZED DOJ!  ELECTION INTERFERENCE!"

And yes, if he was MAGA, this would make him MORE popular with the MAGAs, not less.  

Everyone here -- including you lurking Republicans -- knows that this is 100% true.  And we KNOW you know....yet you are still happy living in and keeping up that ecosystem.  It's fucking destructive as hell, but that's what modern Republicans do.  Laws for thee, not for me.

As for me?  Hang the fucker.  He's a crook.  A pretty audacious one, from what it looks like.

Edited by Brisketexan
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RomaVicta

RomaVicta 29940

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He must be like those embezzlers who just take a little at first and then can't stop themselves. I guess this guy thought he was bulletproof or was confused about the notion of double jeopardy. 

It's orange coveralls for you, you disgrace. Seems like a perfect cellmate for Trump.

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Brisketexan

Brisketexan 105161

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38 minutes ago, RomaVicta said:

He must be like those embezzlers who just take a little at first and then can't stop themselves. I guess this guy thought he was bulletproof or was confused about the notion of double jeopardy. 

It's orange coveralls for you, you disgrace. Seems like a perfect cellmate for Trump.

I actually fucking love that idea.  "America's Bi-Partisan Gitmo for Crooked Fucks."  I'd send in $1000 extra tax dollars to see that exact prison 1) constructed and 2) used for the stated purpose.

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Gatorubet

Gatorubet 30254

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52 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

I actually fucking love that idea.  "America's Bi-Partisan Gitmo for Crooked Fucks."  I'd send in $1000 extra tax dollars to see that exact prison 1) constructed and 2) used for the stated purpose.

Well, if you fuckers can’t seem to convict people, maybe Texas could get a collection together for naming rights and some people can be housed in the Paxton Wing. 

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RomaVicta

RomaVicta 29940

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13 minutes ago, Js1 said:

Sir you lost the presumption of innocence or waiting period for judgment after it wasn’t your first time in trouble 

It's presumed innocent in the eyes of the law. 

His guilt or innocence is already a fact. I don't have to use the eyes of the law. I see a motherfucker who is a corrupt, shameless scoundrel who doesn't hesitate to stoop to smearing an entire class of people to save his own worthless hide. 

Strap the gold to his back and tell him that if he can swim the Potomac with that weight, he can go free. If you drown, you drown.

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horn4life

horn4life 3768

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If Bob was smart he would just switch parties.  Then claim he was prosecuted because he switched parties!  And the Republicans will make sure that he doesn't go to jail from a weaponized Biden crime family justice department!!!

 

 

 

The fact Melendez changed parties after he was indicted, won't make any difference at all.  Just like nothing factual does!

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