Senator Bob Menendez, nicknamed “Gold Bars,” is causing more trouble as he files to run as an independent in New Jersey’s Senate race while he’s already on trial for serious crimes.
Insiders believe he wants a pardon from President Biden to keep his Senate pension and health benefits if he’s convicted. By staying in the race, he could take votes from the Democratic nominee, Rep. Andy Kim, which might help Republican Curtis Bashaw win.
The last time New Jersey elected a Republican senator was in 1972, and Democrats are worried about losing their slim Senate majority this fall.
Democrats are regretting not dealing with Menendez’s corruption sooner.
They didn’t try to remove him from the Senate after he was charged. Federal prosecutors have strong evidence against him, including wads of cash, gold bars, and perks for his wife, Nadine Arslanian. Menendez allegedly did favors for his co-defendants and foreign governments, such as:
- Disrupting a federal prosecution of Fred Daibes.
- Interfering with a New Jersey attorney general’s insurance-fraud case involving a friend of Jose Uribe.
- Providing secret U.S. information to Egyptian officials.
- Writing a letter for Egyptian officials to his Senate colleagues to approve U.S. weapons sales.
- Pressuring a U.S. Agriculture Department official to protect Wael Hana’s monopoly on exporting halal-certified food to Egypt.
These actions are not regular constituent services or typical congressional work, as Menendez claims.
Some believe he might even seek a pardon from a re-elected President Donald Trump as a reward for betraying his party.
This should be a key question in this month’s presidential debate: Both Biden and Trump should agree not to pardon this corrupt politician.