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.
It’s looking worse for Bob. His co-defendant pled guilty with an agreement to cooperate and testify.
Interesting. Has a trial date been set yet for the Senator?
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.
OK, wiseguy. How do you keep the bedroom door from slamming shut when the wind blows?
I use cardboard boxes of classified documents.
As one does.
DId they repossess the Mercedes convertible?
I’ll check the nearby GSA vehicle auctions.
I keep my bedroom door shut. Cheaper.
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?
I like your committees in B.
He’s already off the FRC, for what it’s worth (at least a gold bar or two).
Oh, I thought those were real assignments!
Not according to the Senate website, it still show him as a member:
Here’s the complete list:
- Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
- Subcommittee on Economic Policy
- Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation, and Community Development
- Subcommittee on Securities, Insurance, and Investment (Chairman)
- Committee on Finance
- Subcommittee on Health Care
- Subcommittee on International Trade, Customs, and Global Competitiveness
- Subcommittee on Taxation and IRS Oversight
- Committee on Foreign Relations
He has been removed from all sub-committees of the FRC.
Maybe he stepped down as the leader of the FRC? Maybe I don’t know what I’m babbling about.
New charges against Bob “Gold Bar” Menendez. Obstruction of justice and further bribery and fraud charges. Menendez continues to proclaim his innocence.
66 page indictment, which I haven’t read:
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.”
So, after all of the other charges, he decided to still keep half a million bucks just lying around his house?
Hey, our house is often untidy! He’s a busy man and they just never got around to it.
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. 
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!