Democratic attacks on Menendez contrast with GOP coddling of Trump

VIDEO | 03:45

Sen. Menendez needs to go. Democrats show Republicans how to deal with a bad apple

The condemnation of indicted Sen. Robert Menendez by fellow Democrats stands in contrast to the see-no-evil response of Republicans to the serial indictments of former President Trump.

By Mark Z. Barabak

Columnist

Sept. 26, 2023 Updated 9:14 AM PT

When New Jersey Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez was busted for alleged bribery — a Mercedes, gold bars, envelopes stuffed with cash — the reaction from the state’s governor was swift and sure.

“These are serious charges that implicate national security and the integrity of our criminal justice system,” Democrat Phil Murphy said in a written statement, which included an obligatory nod to every citizen’s innocent-unless-proven-guilty guarantee.

“The alleged facts are so serious that they compromise the ability of Senator Menendez to effectively represent the people of our state,” Murphy said. “Therefore, I am calling for his immediate resignation.”

Other Democrats followed suit, including California Rep. Adam B. Schiff.

“The allegations in the indictment of Senator Menendez are shocking,” he wrote on Twitter, er, X. “If accurate, they represent the most profound betrayal of his oath of office. He’s entitled to the presumption of innocence and will have his day in court. But the gravity of the matter demands his resignation.”

On Tuesday, New Jersey’s junior U.S. senator, Democrat Cory Booker, ended several days of notable silence by joining the chorus calling for Menendez to depart.

“The details of the allegations ... are of such a nature that the faith and trust of New Jerseyans as well as those he must work with in order to be effective have been shaken to the core,” said Booker, who has described Menendez as a mentor. “I believe stepping down is best for those Senator Menendez has spent his life serving.”

The condemnation from fellow partisans and calls for the ouster of the reputedly sticky-fingered senator stand in stark contrast to the see-no-evil response of countless Republicans who not only excuse the serial indictments of former President Trump but also double-down in support.

“Menendez needs to switch parties,” cracked George Conway, the conservative attorney and co-founder of the Trump-tormenting Lincoln Project. “The other party would let him have at least two more indictments.”

In 2015, Menendez was indicted on federal bribery charges involving cash and lavish vacations received from a Florida eye doctor. The case ended in a mistrial after jurors failed to reach a verdict and the government decided not to retry him.

The latest case, rendered in a 39-page indictment, accuses Menendez and his wife, Nadine, of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes to wield his political influence on behalf of the Egyptian government and business associates in New Jersey.

Authorities said a search of their home turned up more than $480,000 in cash stuffed in envelopes and jackets embroidered with Menendez’s name, more than $100,000 in gold bars and a Mercedes-Benz convertible parked in the couple’s garage.

From a cynical viewpoint, it’s easy to see why Democrats feel free to express outrage and cast aside the senator. They get a free pass. Murphy, after all, would surely exercise his power as governor and replace Menendez with another Democrat, thus maintaining the party’s control of the chamber.

Removing Menendez would also eliminate the possibility of putting his seat in play in 2024, when Democrats face a stiff challenge keeping their tenuous majority, and reduce the risk of him dragging down Democrats in New Jersey’s legislative contests this fall.

“I understand personal loyalty and I understand the depths of friendship, but somebody needs to take a stand here,” former New Jersey Democratic Sen. Robert Torricelli told the New York Times. “This is not about him — it’s about holding the majority.”

Whatever the motivation, doing the right thing is still doing the right thing.

Not that Menendez is budging.

He lost his chairmanship of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, stepping down as required by Democrats’ Senate bylaws. But he made clear Monday at a defiant news conference that he will ignore calls to resign, even as he strains credulity to the breaking point.

All that lucre secretly stashed around the house? A form of personal insurance, Menendez suggested, resulting from trauma he faced as the son of Cuban immigrants

It’s the second time he’s played the ethnic-victim card.

In his initial response to Friday’s indictment, Menendez claimed he was falsely accused because he is a “Latin American” who rose from humble origins — as if boot-strapping from modest means has been outlawed for the nation’s second-largest ethnic group.

It’s a cynical and pathetic ploy that, in and of itself, makes him worthy of condemnation.

Unsurprisingly, Menendez did not answer questions from reporters at Monday’s appearance, including whether in 2024 he would seek reelection and an extension of his nearly 50-year political career. Already he’s drawn an opponent, three-term New Jersey Rep. Andy Kim, a fellow Democrat, who said he’ll run against Menendez if he tries for another term.

Others may jump into the race, and good for them.

The justice system will weigh Menendez’s guilt or innocence. But his party’s peers aren’t waiting for that to happen.

“Thanks to Democrats who are calling on Menendez to quit,” California’s former Democratic senator, Barbara Boxer, tweeted following his news conference.

“Sorry, it is not normal to have closets full of cash and BTW, just a couple of gold bars hanging around from ‘friends.’ Nobody’s indispensable & if we are to save America we better have people who won’t sell their souls.”

Republicans should pay heed and also hold Trump to account.