On Tuesday, New Jersey’s Senator Menendez was found guilty on all counts in his corruption trial that saw him accept bribes and act as a foreign agent for the Egyptian government while doing things like meeting with Egyptian intelligence officials and helping that country access millions of dollars in U.S. military aid1.
Bob Menendez - really shaking politics up with a crime that doesn’t involve Trump! Who could have seen this coming?
Famously one of the bribes included gold bars. Which I can’t not point out because… it’s funny. Gold bars!
What he did is not good, but it is funny that entered into evidence were gold bars and cash stuffed into a jacket that was embroidered with his name.
The Senator maintains that he’s done nothing wrong and that the gold bars were his wife’s. His wife has also been indicted but her trial has been delayed while she recovers from breast cancer surgery2.
What an interesting dynamic in that marriage.
What Comes Next?
Probably the wildest thing about this is that he can continue running for office and serving as Senator.
Sen. Schumer has already called for him to resign and you can expect more of the same in the coming days but Sen. Menendez has so far not given any indication that he’ll be leaving office.
He will appeal and is due to be sentenced in October (he faces up to twenty years in prison), so if he doesn’t win his reelection or appeal, he could see a sentence that starts after his current term ends.
If he gets to the end of his term.
Fellow Democrat Bob Casey tweeted on Tuesday that Menendez should "resign or face expulsion from the Senate."
A Historic Expulsion
Congressional expulsion is incredibly rare. Famously (and hilariously) Rep. George Santos was expelled earlier this year, but he’s one of only six House Reps to be expelled.
On the Senate side, only 15 Senators have ever been expelled, but this would be the first since 1862. 14 out of those 15 were for supporting the Confederacy (wildly enough, Congress used to punish people for being, or siding with, insurrectionists!) and the 15th (but actually the 1st) was for treason and conspiracy to aid Britain.
If he’s expelled, Governor Chris Murphy, who is also a Democrat*, will pick his replacement. Since this would not change the politics of the Senate, expect to see more Senators join Schumer and Casey is demanding he leave or face expulsion.
*Menendez has been a Democrat, but is running for reelection as an Independent since Andy Kim is running as a Democrat and Menendez decided to switch parties instead of fight fair - cool guy!
I know this isn’t all that interesting of a story but honest it’s such a relief to not have to talk about Trump and his many many depressing crimes for just a couple minutes!
Democrats have a rare opportunity here to remind the country that we are, in fact, the party that stands up against corruption, and to do it without losing seats. Expelling him feels like a no-brainer - be against corruption now, so you can continue to call out the Republicans for the continued corruption that they’re making their platform (as well as, you know, hating anyone that’s not a white cis het man and loving white nationalism.)
Don’t forget - this is also a podcast :)
Head to kimmoffat.com/thenews for direct links to both an audio and video version of the podcast, as well as links to everything I discussed here and in the episode.
Also, I wrote a book! It has nothing to do with news at all!
“december.” Faced with the end of a loving 22-year relationship, a young couple replays the moments that brought them to where they are now. Leaving will break her fiancé’s heart. Staying will break her own.
It’s available on Amazon, or as an ebook on Amazon or Apple Books.
Most important, don’t forget…