I have to say, you made my point way better than I did.
If you can’t remove Menendez as a Senator, he should at the very least be stripped of all committee assignments and kept far away from classified material.
Hidden, see Modnote
But this is the Menedez thread and his post seemed a lot about what the Republicans do. So it is either a tu quoque or a non sequitur unless he wants to follow his post up about how the Republicans led Menendez to a life of corruption.
Moderating
This thread is not about Republicans. Stop bringing them back up after it died off.
I’m hiding your last post.
To all, not a thread about Republican corruption, etc. This one is for my piece of crap Senator who is a Democrat.
I know he stepped down as the head of the Foreign Relations Committee already. I don’t know what other committees he’s on.
We wouldn’t know unless a deal is made. Lots of ideas are floated during negotiations, and a condition like this would be talked about in very hypothetical ways unless an agreement was reached. Neither side would publicly float the concept. So, it’s possible that 1) neither side wants such a deal, 2) one side is open to it, or 3) both sides are interested (but haven’t reached agreement on other terms).
Plus, I would think the DOJ would be very cautious about asking a sitting Senator to resign. That would play into the argument that the DOJ has been politicized and is using the criminal law power for political goals.
Optics matter a lot in government. Even where I work, in very low levels of state government, we have it drilled in us to be aware of optics. Sometimes it can make it harder to do your job, but you can’t ignore it.
I really dislike the idea of treating someone different because of their position. To quote Adams, “This is a government of laws, not of men.” But you have to be realistic.
I want to see this slimeball face justice, too, but for the sake of accuracy, no, what he did wasn’t treason, because we’re not at war with Egypt.
There are still plenty of other crimes he can and should be charged with. Saying that he’s not a traitor doesn’t mean that he’s going to get off scott-free. But let’s talk about those other actual crimes.
I assume there was meant to be a “not” in the sentence above.
Anyway, the right thing to do is to assume innocence until proven otherwise. Claims in an indictment shouldn’t be assumed true.
Sometimes this ideal is unachievable. I don’t propose releasing those indicted for first degree murder on their own recognizance. And there’s a case to be made for taking away Menendez’s access to highly classified information relating to Egypt now. But pre-trial sanctions should be kept to a minimum.
I don’t see the urgency of taking away the man’s job pre-trial.
The negative effect on the people of New Jersey, of waiting for a trial verdict, seems to me highly speculative.
No more or less than the last time he was indicted.
What do you think is the offense Senator Menendez committed with the gold bars, from the news stories coming out today? What do you think he might get charged with about the bars?
Apparently some of the gold bars found in Menendez’s home can be directly tied to a New Jersey businessman. Those bars were stolen from the businessman and then recovered years ago, therefore the serial numbers and the owner were recorded by the police. The assertion is that the businessman later used the bars to bribe Menendez. For what purpose is not reported in the story…
- At least four gold bars found in the FBI search of Sen. Robert Menendez’s home had been directly linked to a New Jersey businessman now accused of bribing the state’s senior senator, records show
- The businessman, Fred Daibes, reported to police he was the victim of an armed robbery in 2013, and he asked police recover the 22 gold bars stolen from him
- A decade later, the FBI said it found four gold bars with unique serial numbers in the Clifton home of Menendez and his wife Nadine
Thank you MulderMuffin! I appreciate what you wrote. I thought I was reading the articles wrong. I’ve got a wrong-headed view of a senator’s ethics so it’s hard to read the finding.
So Menendez is now charged with a superseding/unforeseen cause. I got some ideas the federal prosecuter but it’s not disclosed yet.
I mean, who doesn’t get gold bars from their friends? Every Christmas, we do the ol’ gold bar and luxury watch exchange with all our friends. Doesn’t everyone?
I thought that Toblerone bar was hard to chew…