the jury has reached a verdict, waiting on the judge to arrive, then the jury.
guilty, very, very, guilty. 6 counts so far…
guilty on all counts. 18 counts, guilty including his co defendants. his wife is to go to trial later.
Up to (guilty on) 16 counts now.
No bueno for the Senator. Play stupid games, …
If he got the stuff after the fact, aren’t they now just “gratuities”? I mean, who doesn’t tip their Senator?
I wonder if he will appeal based on the new SCOTUS ruling in favor of corruption.
Forget it Jake, it’s Hudson County.
Guess that doesn’t apply anymore.
Assuming Menendez doesn’t resign, ball’s in Chuck Schumer’s court now. Does he move to expel Menendez? Menendez is only a Senator for five-and-a-half more months regardless, but I don’t think Senate Democrats can afford having a convicted felon among their ranks as a Republican talking point going into November.
They should expel. There isn’t even a political ramification as NJ Gov. Murphy will appt a Democrat as Senator, probably his own wife.
Hahaha! Good one!
Oh, I’m sure this SCOTUS will find a way to make sure it doesn’t apply to Democrats. They’ll probably just deny certiorari without even taking up the case.
I’d hope he’d appoint Kim to give him a leg up on seniority, but yeah I could see him appointing his wife as a placeholder.
Kim will be the next Senator anyway and his position in Congress is probably important right now. I’m not sure what committees he’s on, but better to let him finish those up I think.
I agree. They won’t shake up the House just to have Kim be a senator a few months early. Just like Christie did when Lautenberg died, it will go to a caretaker that won’t screw up the next few months. My idea from earlier was to give it to Corzine if he’s willing. He’s done it before, he will vote the right way and he has no further political ambitions.
Corzine is such a disgrace though. I would greatly prefer Tammy Murphy, nepotism or not.
Corzine was involved with many corrupt people and then his post Governor job blew up and bankrupted his firm as I recall. I wouldn’t touch that guy with a 20’ pole.
If you want no corruption then you better look out of the state.
Good point. But like I said, just let Ms. Murphy have it for the half year.
Was this the result of a special counsel? I’ve forgotten. If it is, could he use Cannon’s theory on appeal?
Glad to see he’s guilty and this closes the door on a possible Republican pickup this year.
I guess the worry was that he would follow through on his threat to go third party? I didn’t really see that happening – I imagine there’s a lot more dirt that would be exposed by other Dem insiders.
The last time a vacancy had to be filled Christie picked his Attorney General fill the role. It did not generate any controversy. I don’t think that will happen now because the current AG has to deal with the Norcrosss case.
Chuck Schumer has now publicly called for Menendez to resign, and Gov. Murphy has said that he should be expelled if he doesn’t. Murphy also said he’ll be ready to make an appointment quickly in the event of a vacancy.
I’m assuming Menedez won’t resign. He is still running for reelection as an independent and may be hoping that if he causes enough trouble for Democrats that he can count on a pardon should Trump win in November.
2/3s required for expulsion. Need enough Republicans to go along. I can see enough of them refusing…