The allegations against Senator Robert Menendez have moved to a point of no return in my view. Menendez has been accused of liaisons with underage girls on trips arranged by a wealthy campaign donor and friend. He denies the allegations. However, in my view, he should lose his seat over a confirmed fact: he accepted $60,000 in travel benefits from the wealthy donor who benefited from legislative action by Menendez. Menendez recently paid back the money, but it required him to liquidate as much as 87 percent of his personal wealth — making the benefit even more significant to the Senator.
I have long criticized (here and here and here) the acceptance of trips by members of Congress — Democratic and Republican — by different groups as well as government-funded junkets.
In this case, Menendez enjoyed $58,000 worth of trips to the Dominican Republic paid for by Florida eye doctor and political donor Salomon Melgen. At these parties, Menendez is accused of having sex with underaged girls including one who says that she sleep with the Senator on repeated occasions.
Menendez reimbursed Melgen the $58,500 on January 4th after the media got hold of the story. He emphasized that fact that he has little personal wealth, though that would make these gifts even more significant in their impact to him and more difficult to forget. Indeed, it is as worrisome that such trips, according to Menendez, “fell through the cracks” given the significance of their value.
Melgen and his wife have given tens of thousands of dollars to Menendez as well as having their company give $700,000 to a super PAC dedicated to electing Senate Democrats. That group, Majority PAC, gave $582,500 to Menendez’s campaign.
Menendez has been plagued by continual ethical issues from alleged sweetheart deals on rental properties to, in 2010, a troubling intervention for campaign donors. Menendez wrote to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to ask him to approve an acquisition that would rescue a bank from receivership, a New Jersey bank, First Bank Americano, operated by his contributors. The letter was later described by a federal bank regulator, William Black, as “grotesquely inappropriate.”
It seems to me that, regardless of the child prostitution allegations, Menendez has again crossed the line and shown that corruption continues in both parties unabated. While Menendez remains a powerful ally of President Obama and leader in the party, he should be toast on the issue of the gift alone but in the perverse world of congressional ethics he could well survive this latest scandal.
Source: National Journal
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/escort-says-menendez-prostitution-claims-were-made-up/2013/03/04/31299fe2-8514-11e2-999e-5f8e0410cb9d_story.html
What else miht be lies?
T his guy’s a pauper each of the 20 wealthest people in congress is worth at least 90 Million makes you wonder who they’re screwing.
And he intervened on behalf of the doctor with the Medicare/Medicade fraud investigation unit…..
Question –
If Menendez resigns or retires, is he entitled to his Congressional retirement?
The Dominican Republic is one of the worst places in the world for child sex tourism, and the bulk of those who engage in the trade are whites from North America and Europe. Remember the attempted kidnapping of Haitian children by the “New Life Children’s Refuge” cult after the 2009 earthquake? There’s some suggestion they were taking the children to the DR specifically for that purpose. Laura Silsby, who ran the “Refuge” has been charged with commercial fraud in Idaho, including non-payment of creditors and non-payment of wages to employees.
If it turned out that the accusations against Menendez were true, it wouldn’t surprise me. For any who forgot or missed it, the DR is where Rush Limbaugh had obtained viagra illegally before being arrested on his return to the US.
http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/4fe30ccf5a.html
“The Dominican Republic is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor. Reports indicate that Dominican women and children are subjected to sex trafficking throughout the Dominican Republic, the Caribbean, Europe, South America, the Middle East, and the United States. Additionally, child sex tourism is a problem, particularly in coastal resort areas of the Dominican Republic, with child sex tourists arriving year-round from the United States and European countries.”
No one has said he shouldn’t have a trial. Personally, I’d love it. And one for every member of Congress or the Judiciary who has taken such gifts. However, a rose by any other name . . . and that saying about walking like a duck. The only thing I’m personally presuming is that on its face, his actions merit further investigation and charges. Corruption and malfeasance of office harm not just his constituents but democracy itself ergo the appearance of such should be taken quite seriously.
That’s why various canons of ethics speak to not giving even ‘the appearance of (impropriety)’. Is not circumstantial evidence still allowed in some court proceedings?
I see the right to a presumption of innocence until proven guilty isn’t very popular around here.
The DR is the USA’s Thailand, it is the sex tourism destination of the moment. A quick search will reveal which areas and cities specialize in what and I even saw a brief tutorial by a travel agency on how to treat the ladies that were not professionally affiliated (but are ‘welcoming’ of tourists) that can be found in just about every hotel lounge. That, for the tourists not interested in visiting brothels.
The lady tourists are not left out; there is a thriving business in men for female tourists.
In general if you’re a tourist looking for men and boys hit the beach, for a woman visit the hotels and brothels. I suspect that guidance is pretty universal though, no matter what the country. 🙂
Taking gifts from political donors to visit the DR is all one needs to know about the “Honorable Gentleman”. He needs to be gone.
And what Indigo Jones said.
Pete, LOL, Then make your own! 🙂
i still haven’t found the deity on the piece off toast
anonymosuly posted,
“This week, he succeeded John Kerry as chairman of the prestigious Senate Foreign Relations Committee.”
How fitting that he be named chairman of the committee on “foreign relations.” It sounds like he has a lot of experience in that area.
Is he from Jersey too. Fatso and Randy sitting in a tree. Jeso. Be bi partisan and vote em both out.
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Category:Members_of_Congress_under_investigation
Interesting list of a number under investigation, etc
If he was a French parliamentarian or head of a cabinet post and he wandered off the Reservation in The Dominican Republic (for which it stands), he would probably be given some award for porkin so many at one sitting in one setting. But, here in America we are prudish and our politicians can not go to Vegas or points south and have any fun with the opposite sex. Big deal. Pork em if ya gottem is what we say in the dogpac. At least he is not overweight, sitting in the Governor’s Office and eating off the public trough like some RepubliCon in Jersey.
Wow a poor fractal in our wealthy Fractally corrupt political system.
Yupp! they’ll kick him out … He’s just not doing it the “Right” way.
I have to admit my first reaction Wow that is all the money he has! Bron’s comments and mine coincide.
Of course that tells you a lot about the people we have in congress. But there it is.
Foreign Relations,”I do not think it means what you think it means..” apologies to the Princess Bride…
I thought that in America one has the right to a presumption of innocence until one is found guilty AFTER a full exploration of evidence and the cross-examination of that evidence in an unbiased court of law.
What raff said.