September 2023 — the U.S. Senate should EXPEL Bob Menendez (D - New Jersey) Monday morning 9:00 am.

[Multicolored Lemur]

Luckily, it’s a weekend so that we can do this in a relatively orderly basis.

Here are the charges Sen. Bob Menendez is facing

Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) was indicted Friday on allegations that he and his wife accepted bribes from a group of New Jersey businessmen on behalf of interests in Egypt, totaling over $600,000. Pr…

thehill.com

“Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) was indicted Friday on allegations that he and his wife accepted bribes from a group of New Jersey businessmen on behalf of interests in Egypt, totaling over $600,000.

“Prosecutors allege the senator and his wife accepted cash, gold bars and a luxury car in return for assisting the businessmen. The FBI found nearly $500,000 in cash . . . ”

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And Bob was Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, so it does matter. He might say, well, it dove-tails in, Egypt was a ally . . .

Well, it doesn’t dove-tails in that nicely!

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The weekend gives the guy a chance to resign.

Personally, I think he should be expelled even if he does resign. But that’s a big ask. The Senate often moves just stupidly slow, I’m sorry, but it does.

* Bob did step down as Chair of the Foreign Relations Committee, but that’s not near good enough. He needs to be kicked out of the whole Senate.

 

[Multicolored Lemur]

Article I

www.law.cornell.edu

United States Constitution
Article I, section 5 —

“ . . . Each House may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two thirds, expel a member.

“Each House shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting such parts as may in their judgment require secrecy; . . . ”

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If you haven’t heard about the Senate expelling a member very much, that’s good. This is a power which should be used sparingly.

But this is one of those spare times!

 

[Multicolored Lemur]

Egypt, guns, money and power at center of Menendez indictment

Publicly a critic of Cairo, privately, prosecutors allege the senator used his influence to benefit Egypt.

www.politico.com

‘ . . Prosecutors also claim the New Jersey Democrat gave sensitive information about U.S. diplomats in Cairo “that secretly aided the Government of Egypt” . . ’

‘ . . In July, after meeting with Egyptian military officials, Menendez allegedly had his wife Nadine tell Hana that he was signing off on the sale of 46,000 120mm target practice rounds and 10,000 rounds of tank ammunition worth $99 million. . ’

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So, businessman Wael Hana is part of Bob’s “reference group” that he wants to impress. This is a social psychology term which means the people you judge yourself against and whose approval you wish to have.

It’s a bad situation.

You don’t reveal secrets, unless you’re a whistle blower or something of this sort and then you do so in a public way. And you don’t put your thumb on the scale of weapon sales [which we probably over-rely on anyway for the purpose of cementing relationships].

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Bob Menendez previously went to trial in 2015, which ended in a hung jury. And prosecutors then asked the judge to dismiss charges. Now, the prosecutors didn’t have to so ask, and the judge didn’t have to so grant.

But separate question of whether he should have been kicked out of the Senate and/or pressured to resign back in 2015.

 

[Multicolored Lemur]

New Jersey governor calls on Sen. Menendez, a fellow Democrat, to resign | CNN Politics

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and other top Garden State Democrats are calling on Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez to resign – a sign of how quickly the senator’s political support may erode after Friday’s shocking indictment on federal bribery charges.

amp.cnn.com

“New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and other top Garden State Democrats are calling on Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez to resign . . . ”

“ . . . Six out of the nine House Democrats from New Jersey have called for Menendez’s resignation: Sherrill, Kim, Gottheimer, Pascrell, Norcross and Rep. Frank Pallone. . . ”

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This is good. His own fellow Democrats from his own state are calling on him to resign.

 

[AgnosticBoy]

Bob Menendez previously went to trial in 2015, which ended in a hung jury. And prosecutors then asked the judge to dismiss charges. Now, the prosecutors didn’t have to so ask, and the judge didn’t have to so grant.

But separate question of whether he should have been kicked out of the Senate and/or pressured to resign back in 2015.

I'd like to be open for him to stay in office until proven guilty, but the type of charges he's facing are serious. Then there's that 2015 case that you brought up and it involves the same type of allegations. Here's a summary of that case:

The last time Menendez was indicted in 2015, he was charged with receiving gifts and $660,000 in campaign contributions from a Florida eye doctor, Salomon Melgen, that helped him get reelected to the Senate in 2012. Menendez was accused of using his office to promote Melgen's business and personal interests with officials of President Barack Obama's administration.

- USA Today

I'm sure he's not the only politician engaged in these types of crimes, but perhaps he's been getting too greedy and going much farther than anyone else.

 

[Multicolored Lemur]

I'm sure he's not the only politician engaged in these types of crimes,

And that’s the silver lining. We now have “poster children” on both sides of the political spectrum.

On the R side — Justice Clarence Thomas

On the D side — Senator Bob Menendez

And so, there’s an outside chance we can get ethics reform? ! ? Which I think should include blind trusts for investments as one of my personal favorites [even though neither of the two above fails include this as a central element ]