# NJ Senator Menendez indicted on multiple corruption charges {2023-09-22} - Convicted on all counts on July 16, 2024
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nj-senator-menendez-indicted-on-multiple-corruption-charges-2023-09-22-convicted-on-all-counts-on-july-16-2024/990544
**Category:** Politics & Elections
**Created:** [September 22, 2023, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nj-senator-menendez-indicted-on-multiple-corruption-charges-2023-09-22-convicted-on-all-counts-on-july-16-2024/990544 "2023-09-22T15:02:06Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 11
### Author:  [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)
#### Post date: [January 7, 2024, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nj-senator-menendez-indicted-on-multiple-corruption-charges-2023-09-22-convicted-on-all-counts-on-july-16-2024/990544/201 "2024-01-07T17:44:24Z")
> [@flurb](#):
>
> I do think it’s outrageous that the Senate Ethics Committee appears to be sitting on its hands in regard to Menendez. It’s hard to know because they’re pretty secretive about what they’re investigating, but they did put out a statement when news of the indictment first broke that, “absent special circumstances, it has been the long-standing policy of the Committee to yield investigation into matters where there is an active and ongoing criminal investigation or proceeding so as not to interfere in that process.” I.e. don’t expect anything before his court case is resolved.
There certainly isn’t any law or rule stating the Senate and House Ethics Committees have to do things the same way. It seems to me that the urgency to get rid of Santos was more about the embarrassment than the ethics. Menendez had a couple of late night jokes about him when the story broke. Santos continued to be an embarrassment including a very funny depiction on SNL by Bowen Yang. The Santos situation was comedy gold and would continue to be so for as long as he had an office on the Hill. If it wasn’t for the gold bars the late night shows wouldn’t have much to bite on with Menendez.
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### Author:  [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2024, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nj-senator-menendez-indicted-on-multiple-corruption-charges-2023-09-22-convicted-on-all-counts-on-july-16-2024/990544/202 "2024-03-02T04:14:35Z")
It’s looking worse for Bob. His co-defendant pled guilty with an agreement to cooperate and testify.
> **[Co-defendant in Sen. Bob Menendez corruption case pleads guilty](https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2024/03/01/co-defendant-in-sen-bob-menendez-corruption-case-pleads-guilty.html)**
>
> Sen. Bob Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, is accused of having a corrupt relationship with three businessmen, and sharing secret information that helped Egypt.
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### Author:  [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2024, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nj-senator-menendez-indicted-on-multiple-corruption-charges-2023-09-22-convicted-on-all-counts-on-july-16-2024/990544/203 "2024-03-02T11:17:22Z")
Interesting. Has a trial date been set yet for the Senator?
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### Author:  [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2024, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nj-senator-menendez-indicted-on-multiple-corruption-charges-2023-09-22-convicted-on-all-counts-on-july-16-2024/990544/204 "2024-03-02T13:47:46Z")
You would think it couldn’t get worse than keeping gold bars lying around the house, but I agree this isn’t good news for the Dishonorable Gentleman.
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### Author:  [@abcdefghij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abcdefghij)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2024, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nj-senator-menendez-indicted-on-multiple-corruption-charges-2023-09-22-convicted-on-all-counts-on-july-16-2024/990544/205 "2024-03-02T14:57:00Z")
> [@RitterSport](#):
>
> You would think it couldn’t get worse than keeping gold bars lying around the house
OK, wiseguy. How do _you_ keep the bedroom door from slamming shut when the wind blows?
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### Author:  [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2024, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nj-senator-menendez-indicted-on-multiple-corruption-charges-2023-09-22-convicted-on-all-counts-on-july-16-2024/990544/206 "2024-03-02T15:14:47Z")
> [@abcdefghij](#):
>
> OK, wiseguy. How do _you_ keep the bedroom door from slamming shut when the wind blows?
I use cardboard boxes of classified documents.
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2024, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nj-senator-menendez-indicted-on-multiple-corruption-charges-2023-09-22-convicted-on-all-counts-on-july-16-2024/990544/207 "2024-03-02T15:16:28Z")
As one does.
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### Author:  [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2024, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nj-senator-menendez-indicted-on-multiple-corruption-charges-2023-09-22-convicted-on-all-counts-on-july-16-2024/990544/208 "2024-03-02T15:29:37Z")
> [@RitterSport](#):
>
> You would think it couldn’t get worse than keeping gold bars lying around the house, but I agree this isn’t good news for the Dishonorable Gentleman.
> [@](#):
>
> “Uribe only stopped making those monthly (car) payments after the FBI approached Menendez, Nadine Menendez and Uribe in connection with this investigation.”
DId they repossess the Mercedes convertible?
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### Author:  [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2024, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nj-senator-menendez-indicted-on-multiple-corruption-charges-2023-09-22-convicted-on-all-counts-on-july-16-2024/990544/209 "2024-03-02T17:57:05Z")
I’ll check the nearby GSA vehicle auctions.
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### Author:  [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2024, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nj-senator-menendez-indicted-on-multiple-corruption-charges-2023-09-22-convicted-on-all-counts-on-july-16-2024/990544/210 "2024-03-02T18:07:16Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#):
>
> I use cardboard boxes of classified documents.
I keep my bedroom door shut. Cheaper.
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### Author:  [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2024, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nj-senator-menendez-indicted-on-multiple-corruption-charges-2023-09-22-convicted-on-all-counts-on-july-16-2024/990544/211 "2024-03-02T20:42:47Z")
What’s the rush for getting rid of gold bar Menendez? What’s wrong with letting his family keep the Mercedes for the time being, while the judicial process grinds on? Is there anyone arguing that he’s less able to provide constituent services while under investigation? Unlike Santos, he’s still able to do his committee work. I see he’s a member of… the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
a. Ok, he needs to resign that or be booted out. Too close to national security. If found innocent of all charges, he can reapply. A resignation from the Senate would be irreversible.
b. Menendez is also a senior member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee and the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Securities, Insurance, Gold Bars, and Investment. He serves on the Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation, Graft, and Community Development as well as the Financial Institutions and Consumer Protection Subcommittee. He can keep those assignments I guess.
c. Bob Menendez is a senior member of the Senate Finance Committee and serves on the Subcommittee on Taxation and IRS Oversight, the Subcommittee on Health Care, and Subcommittee on International Trade, Customs, and Global Competitiveness. Jeebus: Senate Finance Committee is similar to House Ways and Means. Menendez should be booted off of leadership positions. Is it possible to serve on a subcommittee without being part of the parent committee?
d. Yeah, I’m pissed at Menendez too. My above questions also piss me off: I’d like Menendez to be gone yesterday. But my shoulder angel tells me to be wary of precedent and incipient weaponization. Bonus pisses-me-off question: what exactly is the ethics committee suppose to do in this case?
e. One of my favorite Senators is a member of the ethics committee - Brian Schatz of Hawaii. Arg. What are they _doing_?
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### Author:  [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2024, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nj-senator-menendez-indicted-on-multiple-corruption-charges-2023-09-22-convicted-on-all-counts-on-july-16-2024/990544/212 "2024-03-02T20:58:47Z")
I like your committees in B.
He’s already off the FRC, for what it’s worth (at least a gold bar or two).
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### Author:  [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2024, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nj-senator-menendez-indicted-on-multiple-corruption-charges-2023-09-22-convicted-on-all-counts-on-july-16-2024/990544/213 "2024-03-02T21:15:26Z")
Oh, I thought those were real assignments!
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### Author:  [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2024, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nj-senator-menendez-indicted-on-multiple-corruption-charges-2023-09-22-convicted-on-all-counts-on-july-16-2024/990544/214 "2024-03-03T23:49:33Z")
> [@RitterSport](#):
>
> He’s already off the FRC, for what it’s worth (at least a gold bar or two).
Not according to the Senate website, it still show him as a member:
> **[U.S. Senate: Committee Assignments of the 118th Congress](https://www.senate.gov/general/committee_assignments/assignments.htm#MenendezNJ)**
>
> Committee Assignments of the 118th Congress
Here’s the complete list:
- **[Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs](https://www.senate.gov/general/committee_membership/committee_memberships_SSBK.htm)**
- Subcommittee on Economic Policy
- Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation, and Community Development
- Subcommittee on Securities, Insurance, and Investment (Chairman)
- **[Committee on Finance](https://www.senate.gov/general/committee_membership/committee_memberships_SSFI.htm)**
- Subcommittee on Health Care
- Subcommittee on International Trade, Customs, and Global Competitiveness
- Subcommittee on Taxation and IRS Oversight
- **[Committee on Foreign Relations](https://www.senate.gov/general/committee_membership/committee_memberships_SSFR.htm)**
He has been removed from all sub-committees of the FRC.
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### Author:  [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2024, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nj-senator-menendez-indicted-on-multiple-corruption-charges-2023-09-22-convicted-on-all-counts-on-july-16-2024/990544/215 "2024-03-04T11:00:56Z")
Maybe he stepped down as the leader of the FRC? Maybe I don’t know what I’m babbling about.
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### Author:  [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)
#### Post date: [March 5, 2024, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nj-senator-menendez-indicted-on-multiple-corruption-charges-2023-09-22-convicted-on-all-counts-on-july-16-2024/990544/216 "2024-03-05T23:32:39Z")
New charges against Bob “Gold Bar” Menendez. Obstruction of justice and further bribery and fraud charges. Menendez continues to proclaim his innocence.
[https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-senator-menendez-charged-with-obstruction-justice-new-indictment-2024-03-05/](https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-senator-menendez-charged-with-obstruction-justice-new-indictment-2024-03-05/)
66 page indictment, which I haven’t read:
[https://assets.bwbx.io/documents/users/iqjWHBFdfxIU/rIykhUFfvTQU/v0](https://assets.bwbx.io/documents/users/iqjWHBFdfxIU/rIykhUFfvTQU/v0)
“Over $480,000 in cash -much of it stuffed into envelopes and hidden in clothing, closets, and a safe-- was discovered in the home, along with over $70,000 in Nadine Menendez’s safe deposit box.”
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### Author:  [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2024, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nj-senator-menendez-indicted-on-multiple-corruption-charges-2023-09-22-convicted-on-all-counts-on-july-16-2024/990544/217 "2024-03-06T13:13:55Z")
So, after all of the other charges, he decided to still keep half a million bucks just lying around his house?
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### Author:  [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2024, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nj-senator-menendez-indicted-on-multiple-corruption-charges-2023-09-22-convicted-on-all-counts-on-july-16-2024/990544/218 "2024-03-06T13:23:53Z")
Hey, our house is often untidy! He’s a busy man and they just never got around to it.
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### Author:  [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2024, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nj-senator-menendez-indicted-on-multiple-corruption-charges-2023-09-22-convicted-on-all-counts-on-july-16-2024/990544/219 "2024-03-06T13:49:57Z")
I know I kinda hate it when the kids put $10,000 rolls of cash through the laundry because they’re too lazy to empty their pockets. 🤬
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### Author:  [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2024, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nj-senator-menendez-indicted-on-multiple-corruption-charges-2023-09-22-convicted-on-all-counts-on-july-16-2024/990544/220 "2024-03-06T14:16:48Z")
See, with a gold bar you never have that issue. It will just be the same when you come out as when you forgot it in your pocket!
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