Well, I'll be
One of the senior members of the United States Senate has been indicted on bribery charges. I'm shocked! Shocked, I say!
And oh dear, even more surprising, it's the senior senator from New Jersey!
New Jersey Democratic Senator Robert Menendez has been indicted for allegedly accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes, according to the Justice Department.
Prosecutors say Mr Menendez and his wife accepted gold bars and envelopes of cash from New Jersey businessmen.
The senator and his wife accepted the money to secretly aid the Egyptian government, prosecutors allege.
Both Mr and Ms Menendez have vehemently denied the charges.
The pair each face three criminal counts: conspiracy to commit bribery, conspiracy to commit honest services fraud, and conspiracy to commit extortion under color of official right.
The indictment comes after a years-long Justice Department investigation.
Prosecutors allege Mr Menendez and his wife Nadine accepted bribes of cash, gold, payments toward a home mortgage and a luxury vehicle from three New Jersey men: Wael Hana, Jose Uribe and Fred Daibes.
In addition to helping the Egyptian government, they also took the bribes to use Mr Menendez's power as a senator to protect the three businessmen, according to the indictment.
Mr Menendez, 69, is the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations committee and was elected to a third term in the Senate in 2018.
The Senate is such a cesspool any more. Their stupid in-house rules, thwarting majority rule and enabling single politicians to bring the entire country to its knees. Their filthy stock trades on inside information. The constant sloshing around of billions of dollars of campaign contributions from secret sources. Selfishly holding onto power with a vice grip even into their 80s, as they grow too senile to know what day it is or where they are. And for crooks like Menendez (allegedly), even the legal graft is not enough; they have to take gold bars as bribes under the table.
I'm sure old Bob will be gone by the end of the month, and everybody can snicker for a week or two about New Jersey corruption, but don't kid yourself. The Senate is rotten to the core. And that includes Wyden, Murray, Merkley, and Cantwell. They're holding this country back. They all ought to take the millions they've piled up from their unidentified sources, retire, and hope their successors are smart enough to clean the place up.
Anyway, it's interesting that the Biden Justice Department has decided to go after Menendez at this particular moment. He's weaseled out of bribery charges before, and I would suspect that any pattern of corruption may have been ongoing and notorious for years. So why bust him now? Does it have to do somehow with the Hunter Biden scandals? Sadly, I'd be surprised if it didn't.
Right on Jack.
ReplyDeleteIndependent Washington voter here: the "Mom In Tennis" shoes schtick is long past its expiration date and the only time dear ol' Maria shows up in these parts is during voting season. Hell, I lived in E Wa. through '98 and it was no different there either. And their increasing net worth over all of these years? Please.
The House isn't any better. How Portland's bike pin wearing back bencher continues to have no meaningful opposition over the years but has accomplished nothing of any substance is curious.
Same as his predecessor, Wyden. Poster child for under-achievement, riddled with conflicts of interest, yet regarded as a saint.
DeleteLBJ kinda set the standard for gaining wealth in public office. He used insider info before it became a no no. Some of these new guys are taking short cuts and playing fast and loose with the law.
ReplyDelete"Politicians and diapers must be changed often, and for the same reason." - Mark Twain
ReplyDeleteWish every voter had to sign a pledge that they understood that quote.
DeleteI think a significant proportion of voters look at their down ballot options like its a multiple choice test - they just skim down the names until they see one they recognize, and then they vote for it. Encouraging every idiot to vote just keeps the incumbents in place.
DeleteHard to believe his activities were a secret
ReplyDeleteRon Wyden doesn't even live in Oregon. He spends all his time in New York City and Washington DC. Wyden is about as "Oregonian" as Chuck Schumer!
ReplyDeleteWyden’s only credential is the D on his ballot entry. Kind of sad that it’s enough to get him elected.
DeleteNo doubt that Wyden and his wife are completely corrupt. I mean his wife is awful. Remember when Vancouver conservatives were trying to raise hell about if Wyden even spends enough time in Oregon to qualify as living here? Let's be real: that wasn't resolved. Wyden likely spends most of his time bouncing between NYC and Washington DC - because why be in this podunk backwater place when you can live the high-rolling socialite scene of NYC?
ReplyDeleteAnd yet, I'm strangely a fan of Wyden because I follow a couple thinktanks out of DC. For example, Congress can't get enough of the talk about "REGULATE SOCIAL MEDIA!" but no one knows how, or to what end, and what this causes. Wyden gave a pretty good talk on Section 230, basically explaining that if we get it wrong, then a lot of the social movements that liberals cheered on over the last couple years never would have gotten off the ground. Twitter would have blocked #MeToo to prevent legal liabilities, no video publisher would have carried the video of George Floyd (or any police brutality, for that matter). It's a mess - and I think Wyden is functionally the only Senator with a good team of advisors on technology issues.
But still a corrupt hack, and those advisors could work for someone with integrity.