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September 27, 2023

In 2017, Democratic New Jersey senator Bob Menendez endured a three-month trial for eighteen counts of alleged corruption. The procedure ended in a mistrial. Ten jurors found Menendez guilty with two dissenting. Prosecutors can retry defendants in trials that result in a hung jury. The Justice Department opted not to retry Menendez.

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Does the prosecution have a sufficient case this time to avoid another mistrial, or is the evidence of corruption weak because this is just another presidential vendetta against Menendez for disagreeing with the Democratic policy agenda?

Per the Washington Post, in that trial prosecutors said Menendez took gifts from Doctor Salomon Melgen, including a luxury hotel stay, private jet flights, and campaign donations, in exchange for which he tried to help Melgen get U.S. visas for his girlfriends, intervened in the doctor’s $8.9 million billing dispute with Medicare (Melgen was subsequently found guilty), and assisted with a port security contract of the doctor’s in the Dominican Republic.  

Juror Ed Norris, a 49-year-old equipment operator from Morris County, said that the evidence was mostly emails and that he “didn’t see a smoking gun.’’  “I don’t think the government proved anything,’’ Norris said. “I didn’t see anything bad that he did.’’ 

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Menendez and Melgen were longtime friends. Both defendants denied any wrongdoing, arguing the gifts were merely evidence of their close friendship.

What does a smoking gun in a case like this look like? Per WAPO, Barbara Van Gelder, a lawyer with Cozen O’Conner, “Once you blur business with friendship, it’s very hard to ask the jury to untangle that. . . The jury is looking for a concrete quid pro quo, not just a plausible quid pro quo.’’

Although the Senate Ethics Committee admonished Senator Menendez, he hung on to his seat as Chair of Foreign Relations Committee (FRC). In April 2018, the Committee stated  that Menendez “knowingly and repeatedly accepted gifts of significant value from Dr. Melgen without obtaining required Committee approval, and that you failed to publicly disclose certain gifts as required by Senate Rule and federal law. Additionally, while accepting these gifts, you used your position as a Member of the Senate to advance Dr. Melgen’s personal and business interests.”

This time, based on corruption allegations alone, Senator Menendez has stepped down from the FRC. He was found guilty of ethics violations and will be again, in all likelihood. Under the law Menendez merits a presumption of innocence until proven guilty of a felony in a court of law.

Are the current bribery charges just another vendetta like the corruption charges brought by the Obama Justice Department in 2017. At the time, Andrew McCarthy asserted that the original reason for the charges are that Menendez had angered President Obama, who as payback went after him through the Justice Department.  Menendez has also not backed Biden’s every policy.

As in the first case, there are rumblings that the Biden administration is pursuing corruption charges motivated by a vendetta against Menendez. Which makes some sense if you consider the Constitution does not prohibit felons from holding elected federal office. Such an action would serve to motivate compliance with the party line without losing a coveted Senate vote. The Democrats can’t afford to lose his vote.