By Carol Lucas
Somewhere out in the distance, I can hear a voice calling to me. The tone of that voice holds a bit of sarcasm, a bit of smugness, and the inquiry it is making goes something like this: “Well, Carol, we have seen how prolific your articles are regarding Republicans, those writings rife with contempt for the folks you deem corrupt. Now that the shoe is on the Democratic foot with the news of Senator Robert Menendez, how does it feel?”
My quick answer is, “Equally contemptuous.”
I find corruption on any level – local, state, or federal – worthy of scorn; furthermore, my disdain extends to both sides of the aisle.
I will not play the familiar game of “but what about?” – you supply the name and the situation – although I have to admit when I began my research, Clarence Thomas came to mind. Instead, I am going to focus strictly on Menendez and the flimsy excuses he provided when he and his wife were indicted on charges of bribery, corruption, and the felony of providing confidential information to a foreign government.
Let’s harken back to 2017 and the first round of counts brought against the New Jersey senator. Menendez was brought up on charges of corruption on the federal level, that of misusing his office for personal gain. This resulted in a mistrial, a hung jury, which means that some voted guilty and others, innocent.
I make this clear because this kind of decision doesn’t mean the defendant was or wasn’t guilty, but that the jury couldn’t arrive at a conclusion. In my mind, the cloud continues to hang over the truth of that first go round. I might add that the defense in that trial was “simply gifts from friends.”
Sound familiar?
It should because this is the same justification (excuse) provided by the senator this time as well. It seems to me he might have worked a little harder at sounding more plausible, but that’s just my opinion. Perhaps the first so-called win simply greased the track for his continuance of the same song and dance routine.
Fast forward now to 2023. One would think that after the close call in 2017, this individual would be smart enough to breathe a sigh of relief and “lay low.” Unfortunately, the voters of New Jersey gave him a victory in 2018, and that must surely have stoked his confidence, not to mention his arrogance, because five years later we find the Senator mired in the same kind of legal morass.
As the details of this even more serious allegation are revealed, it’s apparent Robert Menendez didn’t learn his lesson. His current indictment is focused on details like wads of cash stashed in pockets of clothing and multiple gold bars.
As a quick side note regarding his excuse for these, he stated that this tactic was based upon his family history, and the need to do the same when they were in Cuba. Really? That’s the best you can do, senator? Sir, you live in the United States of America and are a member of Congress, for heaven’s sake.
National security experts have indicated that the indictment refers to the senator’s disclosure of “highly sensitive” and “non-public” information to Egyptian intelligence. Let’s remember that Menendez is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, a post from which he has “temporarily” removed himself. However, during the time he occupied the chairmanship, much of that for which he is now indicted took place then.
One very interesting aspect of this charade is Menendez’s second and current wife. It would seem that the missus has been fairly busy on her own. This is a woman who was facing foreclosure on a home when she first met the senator.
Nadine Menendez apparently had a close friendship with some Egyptians as she began dating Robert Menendez. According to The Washington Post, just eight months after his first trial for federal corruption, he issued an important message to Egyptian leaders: he would sign off on a $100,000,000 arms sale to Egypt. In texts Mrs. Menendez eventually claimed that she was “the middle person” for a lot that transpired, and that she was being paid to be such. She eventually formed a company to receive these “bribe” payments. For the entire story, you might want to check out The Washington Post’s September 23 edition.
All in all, the story paints a clear picture of lawless arrogance with a lot of tawdry undertones. Thankfully, 30 Democrats have called for the senator’s resignation, the first call set forth by Pennsylvania’s rumpled, disheveled and quite articulate (despite his stroke) John Fetterman. It was he who said, “Menendez is entitled to the presumption of innocence, but he cannot continue to wield influence over national policy, given the nature of the allegations.”
Article 1 Section 5 of the Constitution states that each house of Congress may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and with the concurrence of two thirds, expel a member.
I strongly suggest the Democrats do just that. Once again, no one is above the law and that includes Robert Menendez.
Carol Lucas is a retired high school teacher and a Lady’s Island resident. She is the author of the recently published “A Breath Away: One Woman’s Journey Through Widowhood.”
