The Trial of Senator Robert Menendez (D-N.J.)

[Suburbia]

This thread is dedicated to the corruption trial of Senator Robert Menendez, who was appointed as a Senator after being promised by then-Gov.-elect Jon Corzine that he would be appointed after Menendez's Hudson County base voted for Corzine in the 2005 gubernatorial election. Menendez was appointed and sworn in in 2006, ran for as full term in 2006 and won, and won reelection in 2012 while the story of his sex and corruption life came out during the Hurricane Sandy storm.

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/09/06/bob-menendez-trial-first-day-judge-shut-up-242389

http://www.politico.com/states/new-jersey/story/2017/09/06/shut-up-judge-tells-menendez-lawyer-114310

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/09/05/robert-menendez-trial-senate-new-jersey-242333

http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2017/09/prosecutor_paints_menendez_as_co-defendants_person.html#incart_river_index

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/451070/chris-christie-new-jersey-senator-possibly

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/03/bob-menendez-supreme-court-corruption-charges-236252


http://www.politico.com/story/2013/02/report-menendez-helped-melgen-087300

Day One of the trial began today, September 6, 2017.

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/09/06/bob-menendez-trial-first-day-judge-shut-up-242389

[The Other Castro]

Part of me hopes he is convicted. It's important that the definition of corruption isn't lost so much that it's impossible to hold politicians accountable.

[SATW]

I think he will beat these charges I really don't seem the prosecution succeeding.

[Attorney General & PPT Dwarven Dragon]

I implore the jury to find him gulity as charged.

[Co-Chair Bagel23]

Plox have a no guilty verdict. Trust me, this guy is guilty, and full of crap, but he's still better than any republican replacement that Christie could install if given the chance, so I reluctantly want Bob to stay for now, and then primary the living guts out of him in 2018. He is so bad, I would rather have Jill Stein as a senator.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

I implore the jury to find him gulity as charged.

I'm sure jurors were reading this thread right now, looking for guidance.

[SATW]

Menendez has been falsely accused of corruption in the past and falsely accused of a make believe sex scandal as well (NY Post and NY Times both debunked it).

So Wulfric's "imploring" is legally useless unless he is actually guilty.

If Menendez is actually guilty this time around, he'll be convicted and he would resign, I think.

However, as stated in my post above, I think he will be vindicated by the legal system.

[Webnicz]

bernie bros are always talking about a corrupt NJ senator named Cory Booker. I have never once heard anyone in the pro-beanie media mention Menendez, its all Cory booker.

They talk about Cory booker and how he is corrupt but probably don't even know who Menendez is...who....is actually corrupt

[Cynthia]

I reluctantly want him to stay, at least until Phil Murphy takes office.

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

He didn't do anything wrong. More fake crimes and political prosecutions! The whole trial is just racist.

[_]

Purge him from the Senate and have a special election for his replacement.

[BudgieForce]

So if anybody is following this, I'm leaning towards Menendez getting off. So far the prosecution has not shown a clear case of bribery. Im predicting, at worst, a hung jury. Then the government will try to re-prosecute and we can do this all over again. 

[Obama-Biden Democrat]

I implore the jury to find him gulity as charged.

I'm sure jurors were reading this thread right now, looking for guidance.

The true moderate one has spoken, we must hail his wisdom.

[SATW]

He didn't do anything wrong. More fake crimes and political prosecutions! The whole trial is just racist.

Mostly agreed, my friend! I don't see a racist element (yet) in this show trial, but I wouldn't put it past the overzealous prosecutors.

Purge him from the Senate and have a special election for his replacement.

Innocent until proven guilty.

So if anybody is following this, I'm leaning towards Menendez getting off. So far the prosecution has not shown a clear case of bribery. Im predicting, at worst, a hung jury. Then the government will try to re-prosecute and we can do this all over again. 

I agree, no hard evidence at all yet. A former aide apparently "spilled the beans" but he has no evidence behind his claims atm.

[Heisenberg]

He didn't do anything wrong. More fake crimes and political prosecutions! The whole trial is just racist.

Mostly agreed, my friend! I don't see a racist element (yet) in this show trial, but I wouldn't put it past the overzealous prosecutors.

Purge him from the Senate and have a special election for his replacement.

Innocent until proven guilty.

So if anybody is following this, I'm leaning towards Menendez getting off. So far the prosecution has not shown a clear case of bribery. Im predicting, at worst, a hung jury. Then the government will try to re-prosecute and we can do this all over again. 

I agree, no hard evidence at all yet. A former aide apparently "spilled the beans" but he has no evidence behind his claims atm.

What do y'all think of this!
http://thefederalist.com/2017/09/12/witness-senator-menendez-helped-me-with-visa-after-rich-boyfriend-gave-money/
He's going down!!!! (At least I hope).
And I hope Senator Strange loses his primary in three years to a good Republican. #NeverCorruption

[BudgieForce]

He didn't do anything wrong. More fake crimes and political prosecutions! The whole trial is just racist.

Mostly agreed, my friend! I don't see a racist element (yet) in this show trial, but I wouldn't put it past the overzealous prosecutors.

Purge him from the Senate and have a special election for his replacement.

Innocent until proven guilty.

So if anybody is following this, I'm leaning towards Menendez getting off. So far the prosecution has not shown a clear case of bribery. Im predicting, at worst, a hung jury. Then the government will try to re-prosecute and we can do this all over again.  

I agree, no hard evidence at all yet. A former aide apparently "spilled the beans" but he has no evidence behind his claims atm.

What do y'all think of this!
http://thefederalist.com/2017/09/12/witness-senator-menendez-helped-me-with-visa-after-rich-boyfriend-gave-money/
He's going down!!!! (At least I hope).
And I hope Senator Strange loses his primary in three years to a good Republican. #NeverCorruption

Lol. Thats not what she said and using such slanted sources is only going to give you an inaccurate perception of whats actually occurring in this trial. Her testimony also helped solidify that Menendez and Melgen were good friends.

Edit: By the way, I posted my opinion after reading her testimony so this isnt news to me.

[SATW]

He didn't do anything wrong. More fake crimes and political prosecutions! The whole trial is just racist.

Mostly agreed, my friend! I don't see a racist element (yet) in this show trial, but I wouldn't put it past the overzealous prosecutors.

Purge him from the Senate and have a special election for his replacement.

Innocent until proven guilty.

So if anybody is following this, I'm leaning towards Menendez getting off. So far the prosecution has not shown a clear case of bribery. Im predicting, at worst, a hung jury. Then the government will try to re-prosecute and we can do this all over again. 

I agree, no hard evidence at all yet. A former aide apparently "spilled the beans" but he has no evidence behind his claims atm.

What do y'all think of this!
http://thefederalist.com/2017/09/12/witness-senator-menendez-helped-me-with-visa-after-rich-boyfriend-gave-money/
He's going down!!!! (At least I hope).
And I hope Senator Strange loses his primary in three years to a good Republican. #NeverCorruption

Didn't realize the aide was a she, but this was what I was talking about. No evidence whatsoever in that link.

[Sir Mohamed]

I wonder that TRUMP has not commented on the issue yet.

I reluctantly want him to stay, at least until Phil Murphy takes office.

Agreed.

[Pragmatic Conservative]

Jury is deliberating the case now. Verdict should probably come down sometime this week.

[Pandaguineapig]

I wonder that TRUMP has not commented on the issue yet.

I reluctantly want him to stay, at least until Phil Murphy takes office.

Agreed.

That's probably the plan for democrats, but republicans could move towards an immediate expulsion vote, forcing some of the more vulnerable democrats to choose between voting for another republican senator for 11 months or having a vote to retain a convicted felon on their record

[#gravelgang #lessiglad]

Part of me hopes he is convicted. It's important that the definition of corruption isn't lost so much that it's impossible to hold politicians accountable.

I implore the jury to find him gulity as charged.

This. Also, like Merrick Garland's Supreme Court seat, the people deserve a say in their next Senator; New Jersey's next governor should appoint Bribery Bob's replacement.

[Virginiá]

This. Also, like Merrick Garland's Supreme Court seat, the people deserve a say in their next Senator; New Jersey's next governor should appoint Bribery Bob's replacement.

Voting no on expulsion because a Governor with a 15% - 20% approval rating and only a couple months left in his tenure should not be picking a replacement Senator is actually a pretty strong justification imo. I'd think the same thing even if it was a Democrat, though I may be too much of a hack to actually say it.

Although, I don't really think Governors should be able to just pick any replacement they want anyway. It should be from a list submitted by the political party of the person who last held the seat.

[Anna Komnene]

If he does get convicted, I assume there would be some sort of appeal process and that any expulsion would have to wait for that to take place.

[SamTilden2020]

Although, I don't really think Governors should be able to just pick any replacement they want anyway. It should be from a list submitted by the political party of the person who last held the seat.

Like how Freudenthal picked Barrasso in WY?

[GeorgiaModerate]

Although, I don't really think Governors should be able to just pick any replacement they want anyway. It should be from a list submitted by the political party of the person who last held the seat.

Like how Freudenthal picked Barrasso in WY?

A few states do require that the appointee be of the same party as the vacating Senator: AZ, HI, NC, UT, WY.  Hawaii uses the process Virginia describes: the Governor selects from a list of 3 candidates submitted by the party.