Judge refuses to dismiss corruption charges against Menendez
Source: The Hill
Judge William Walls on Monday said he won't dismiss any of the 18 charges against Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), The Associated Press reported.
Prosecutors in the federal corruption case against Menendez and his co-defendant, Salomon Melgen, rested their case last week, capping off 18 days of testimony from 35 witnesses.
Menendez pleaded not guilty to charges that he accepted campaign donations, lavish gifts and vacations from Melgen, a Florida-based eye doctor, in return for the senator using his influence to benefit Melgen both personally and financially.
Prosecutors claimed during the trial that the senator had "sold his office for a lifestyle he couldnt afford."
Read more: http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/355650-judge-refuses-to-dismiss-corruption-charges-against-dem-senator
Eliot Rosewater
(31,109 posts)Jose Garcia
(2,595 posts)karynnj
(59,503 posts)Not to mention, if this jury finds him guilty, he will appeal. Various convictions on similar charges were called into question when the conviction of Governor McDonnell of Virginia was overturned. One person who benefited was Sheldon Silver, NY assembly member.
If - and its a big if - he is convicted, he will NOT step down immediately because he is entitled to appeal. This is good because if he were to step down before January, Christie would name a Republican for the seat -- even if Phil Murphy wins the November election. If he is found guilty and loses all his appeals, it is very likely that would happen after the new Governor is in office. I expect that if he loses -- there will be a HUGE outcry for him to step down IMMEDIATELY. If Murphy wins the November election - or if that verdict comes before the November election, EVERY Democrat NEEDS to argue that we need to wait until all appeals are done. Seriously, the Republicans can say that a President in his last year should not get to name a Supreme Court Justice - a Governor, whose party has lost and who has the lowest approval rating of any governor should not name a Senator.
Now, if he is either not convicted or he wins an appeal, NJ Democrats are likely to push him NOT to stand for reelection in 2018. If he opts to run, I suspect he will lose a primary badly. I canvassed for him in Morris County in 2006 when he ran after being appointed by Corzine in 2005. Even in Dover, with a large Hispanic population and in very Democratic Morristown, there was very little excitement for him. (Corzine should have appointed someone like Russ Holt, who would not have been an embarrassment to the state even before he was indicted. He blocked the Obama EPA appointees because he was angry with the Cuba policy and he was as bad as any right winger on the Iran deal. )
Either way by the end of January 2019 - he will almost certainly not be a Senator.
awesomerwb1
(4,267 posts)It's not right to be corrupt obviously.......but I'd rather have a corrupt Dem than a corrupt russiablican.
karynnj
(59,503 posts)If Menendez is found guilty, EVERY Democrat needs to argue that he should be able to hold the seat until he exhausts his appeals. Seriously, It is very likely that there will be a Democratic governor by mid January. It is unlikely that the case would have gone through all appeals before then.
nitpicker
(7,153 posts)Instead of resigning.
FWIW, Murphy (as of 13 Oct) was leading his opponent 51-33.
Scruffy1
(3,256 posts)Anyone who didn't see this coming is a fool. When the vey rich curry your favor they generally expect something in return. The red flags were everywhere. Certainly, opthalmologists make serious money and most of it comes from medicare, but not the kind of money for private jets and multimillion dollar mansions. He should have smelled a rat. We really don't need the baggage. Even if the jury doesn't find a quid pro quo, he needs to go and pronto.