The Menendez issue isn't going away, and yes, it has legs.

[cali]

Menendez allegations growing rapidly, creating headache for Democrats

Read more: http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/280691-menendez-scandal-creates-headache-for-dems#ixzz2Jl5pLuFg
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Senate Ethics Committee investigating Menendez

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-34222_162-57567120-10391739/senate-ethics-committee-investigating-menendez

[graham4anything]

1. as I said the other day, this smear is most likely (no proof) being done by both sides

Chris Christie would pick an interim for 9 months should he be out soon
so it would be instant republican pickup

and, well, with the Cory Booker announcment that he is going to win Lautenberg's seat,
Lautenberg is pissed off I bet (he is judging by things you read including that Lautenberg said Cory should be spanked
and that pathetic Pallone(My opinion) wants the seat.

So getting rid of Bob works for the underbellies of both parties
(and NJ has a smoke filled room party boss reputation, who don't like Cory Booker to start off with.

but this way it would get both Pallone(the bosses favorite) and Cory positions
but at the expense of the next 11 months

when Bob's voice is needed on the immigration front

imho

just like McCain got rid of Susan Rice imho

and we all have opinions
feel free to agree or disagree imho

and again- i am NOT a fan of Pallone's and his personal gotta have it attitude and power grab

imho Lautenberg never was going to run again, but Cory got in the way of passing the torch

remember Corzine got rid of Codey(whom the party bosses hate too)
and McGreevey was tossed because he was Gay
and Florio was years ago sold down the river

no wonder NJ is up there on the top 5 list of corrupt states in both parties

[cali]

4. What exactly is the smear you're referring to?

If it's the thing about prostitutes that may well be true, but the facts support the financial related allegations detailed in the articles.

I'm not suggesting that he'll be forced to resign on these allegations, btw. I don't see that happening.

[graham4anything]

8. the whole side issue.

financially, he refunded it.

therefore there is no problem, as it was refunded.

It is legal to fly but he didn't pre-announce it, and he has refunded

as to the other things which are NOT connected, that is the smear

and people are wanting him out
(I am living now in NJ, and a fan of Bob's, who wants him to lead the whole immigration issue, which he has major power on the committee to do.)

But there is the whole Pallone-Lautenberg vs. Booker that applies
(because in politics everything is connected and NJ(where I am living now)has a long history of stab in the back politics
(Ask Florio, ask McGreevey, ask Codey, and there has been others (Corzine, Torticelli) that had major problems recently
and those are just the democratic people
I could list 50 republicans (including the whole system that got Christie, a proud member of their fraternity, his job).

Nothing is by chance.

So I hope all demcoratic people support Bob and he doesn't get driven out

but, the issues are the person involved who owes much back tax, and then Menendez, which is secondary,
and he is not really being looked into by the feds.

(I don't see anything in this to drive bob out, but that doesn't mean all the forces will do just that.
Now before 60 days til Nov. would mean an interim til then

and most likely a democratic candidate would win the seat, but it's the interim time
(and if Cory gets the other seat, this would give Pallone the 2nd one, soemthing not expected prior to this brouhaha)

[cali]

11. not exactly

<snip>

This month, after a conservative Web site aired allegations that Menendez had accepted free trips from Melgen to Casa de Campo, the senator reimbursed Melgen $58,500 with a personal check. The money covered the costs of two round-trip flights Menendez made on Melgen’s private plane from New Jersey to the Dominican Republic in 2010, the senator’s office said. Menendez had not previously reported the paid trips as gifts or reimbursed Melgen, as required by Senate rules. Menendez’s staff blamed the error on sloppy paperwork.

<snip>

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/menendez-pressed-us-officials-to-help-his-close-friend-and-donor/2013/02/01/7a509dc0-6cb3-11e2-bd36-c0fe61a205f6_story.html

[graham4anything]

12. that is what I said. What he did wasn't illegal, it wasn't reported corect.

I thought there were 3 trips, and the first one was correctly reported but not the last two

sounds like sloppy staff work and not ouster, but then legalities dont' stop things
(and it wastes precious time which is why alot of people end up going saying they can't get their job done right).

[another_liberal]

2. A New Jersey politician who takes money?

"I'm shocked, shocked!"

[JaneyVee]

3. where is the proof of allegations?

[cali]

5. He admitted to the financial irregularities involving his acceptance of gifts amounting to

some 58,000 dollars, in the form of travel on a donor's jet.

[graham4anything]

13. he returned it. story ends when he returned it. and the other stuff is all irrelevant, but the right

rightwing is running with that

no one says any of these people are saints.
And the Saints are better than Tim Tebow anyhow seeing that he can't throw but is being paid to be a QB)

(that is a superbowl saturday football joke)

[naaman fletcher]

18. Oh come on.

Do you think he would have returned it if he didn't get caught?

If I don't pay my taxes and the IRS audits me, can I just pay them and say "story is over! I paid, so therefore I didn't do anything wrong"?

[graham4anything]

19. actually yes, you pay the IRS plus interest, and that is what they want.

you pay the fine and it's over.

audits are not as scary as you may think.

there is an error, you send in money, add the interest and a possible fine, no jail time, not anything more
record clear then.

all they want is their money

btw-the guy they are looking at is NOT Bob. He owes mega tax, but that has nothing to
do with Bob.
Bob made a mistake and re-paid it, so Bob is done.

two different things being combined into a smear.

so the answer to your question is a resounding YES you too would be let off after repayment.

[Coyotl]

15. CREW is a good source on ethics

Under Investigation by: The Senate Ethics Committee.
http://www.citizensforethics.org/pages/senator-robert-menendez-democrat-new-jersey

Under Investigation for:

Sen. Menendez is under investigation for accepting gifts from a donor who flew him to the Dominican Republic on a private jet. Sen. Menendez acknowledged taking two flights from Florida eye doctor Salomon Melgen and failed to declare the flights as gifts on his personal financial disclosure forms. In January 2013, more than two years after taking the trips and after questions were raised publicly about them, Sen. Menendez paid for them with a personal check of $58,500. Dan O’Brien, the senator’s chief of staff, said the delay in paying for the trips was “an oversight,” and characterized it as “sloppy.”

Status: The status of the Senate Ethics Committee investigation is unknown.

[MotherPetrie]

6. Wondering if those who object to the investigations would object if he was a Repug

[gollygee]

7. Of course this should be investigated

Democrats sometimes do bad things too. I'm old enough to remembe the Keating Five scandal. If one of ours does something unethical, he/she needs to be treated just like the Republicans with bad ethics.

[graham4anything]

9. wasn't john mccain the main culprit of the Keating scandal? Why is he in office?

[gollygee]

10. He was one of the five and I agree 100%

He showed how ethical he was then IMO.

You know, two of them were cleared in the investigation, and I think he was one. I mainly remember it in association with Riegle (a Dem), who was my senator, and who was not cleared.

[Coyotl]

14. CREW Releases Documents Regarding FBI Investigation

http://www.citizensforethics.org/legal-filings/entry/crew-release-documents-fbi-investigation-senator-robert-menendez-new-jersey

www.citizensforethics.org › Legal Filings

3 days ago – Washington, D.C. — Today, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) released documents CREW previously had sent to the FBI and the Department of Justice (DOJ) requesting an investigation into potential criminal conduct by Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ). In the spring of 2012, CREW exchanged numerous emails with a tipster who called himself Peter Williams, and who claimed Sen. Menendez had engaged in criminal acts in the Dominican Republic. Unable to independently verify the truth of the allegations, on July 17, 2012, CREW forwarded all of the email correspondence as well as the results of its own investigation to both the Washington Field Office of the FBI and DOJ’s Criminal Division.

PDF's:

Read CREW's letter to the FBI and DOJ

Read CREW's email exchange with Peter Williams

[bigtree]

16. I don't know about legs

I see it has tentacles, tho . . .

[catbyte]

17. Vitter Vitter Vitter Vitter Vitter

Although sleazy and off-putting, at least Menendez doesn't have a wife to betray, he didn't wear a diaper, and it wasn't illegal.

[Nye Bevan]

20. Having sex with underage prostitutes is not illegal?

Not that this has been proven yet, but that's the allegation.

[okaawhatever]

21. underage yes, but prostitution is not illegal in the DR. When the girls came on that show no one

questioned their age. It seems that if those were the girls involved, they may have been 17 at the time but they didn't appear too young for that sort of thing or the daily caller would have jumped all over it. Not excusing it if that is the case, but even when the daily caller was trying to promote this story they didn't mention the underage aspect and that was election time.