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 Sen. 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.”
The condemnation from Menendez’s 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.
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
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 hold Trump to account.
Mark Z. Barabak is a Los Angeles Times columnist.
