₦airaland Forum

Menendez corruption trial: What you need to know....

A federal courtroom in Newark, New Jersey, on Wednesday morning will feature a rare sight — a U.S. senator facing felony charges.

The legal saga of Robert Menendez — a lengthy, leak-filled criminal probe followed by two-plus years of legal wrangling since his indictment while Menendez kept his seat — has huge implications for the Senate and New Jersey politics. If Menendez is convicted, there will be battles over who will replace the 63-year-old Democrat, in both the state and, potentially, the Senate. In a 52-48 Senate controlled by Republicans, every vote is immensely valuable.

The case has huge implications for the Justice Department as well. The last senator to be tried on criminal charges — the late GOP Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska — had his conviction set aside after it was discovered that federal prosecutors withheld evidence that could have helped Stevens’ defense. And a key witness against Stevens had a romantic relationship with an FBI agent. That stunning reversal dealt a major blow to the prestige of DOJ’s Public Integrity Section, which pursues corrupt lawmakers.

Here’s a primer on the trial:

The investigation:

Menendez’s relationship with Dr. Salomon Melgen, a close friend and donor, first came under scrutiny in early 2013 after media reports revealed that the New Jersey Democrat was flying on Melgen’s plane to the doctor’s “luxurious” villa in the Dominican Republic. Menendez did not report any of the flights, a potential violation of Senate rules and federal law. When the press disclosed the reports, Menendez cut Melgen a $58,000 check to cover the cost of the flights, but federal prosecutors say there were additional unreported trips.

Menendez intervened on Melgen’s behalf with the Department of Health and Human Services to resolve a $9 million Medicare billing dispute, dragging in then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, and Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Marilyn Tavenner.

Menendez also sought the State Department’s help over a $500 million port security contract Melgen had with the Dominican Republic. Menendez even assisted with visas for several of Melgen’s foreign girlfriends, according to prosecutors.

Melgen and his family members donated hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions directly to Menendez’s reelection campaign, as well as to a Democratic super PAC that backed Menendez’s 2012 reelection effort.


The charges:

Menendez and Melgen were indicted in April 2015 on a slew of federal corruption charges related to the senator’s alleged acceptance of hundreds of thousands of dollars in improper gifts and campaign contributions as bribes in exchange for using his office to help Melgen. These include eight counts of bribery, three counts of honest services fraud, one count of conspiracy, and one count of violating the Travel Act. Menendez was also charged with one count of making false statements.

Melgen has already been convicted in a multimillion dollar Medicare fraud case in Florida and is awaiting sentencing. Prosecutors may seek as much as 30 years in prison for Melgen in that case, a potential life sentence for the 62-year-old ophthalmologist.

The Justice Department alleges that the Menendez-Melgen relationship turned criminal shortly after the New Jersey Democrat became a senator and went on for nearly seven years.

“The defendants’ bribery scheme began shortly after Menendez’s elevation to the Senate in 2006, when Melgen began a pattern of treating Menendez to weekend and weeklong getaways in the Dominican Republic that would continue for the next several years,” prosecutors said in a recent court filing. “For the first four years of the corruption scheme, the all-expense paid trips Melgen provided often included free roundtrip flights on Melgen’s private jet for Menendez and his various guests. When the doctor’s private jet was unavailable, Melgen supplied equally luxurious travel for the Senator.”

In return for Melgen’s gifts and campaign donations, Menendez reportedly used his Senate office to help the Florida doctor.

“Although Menendez did not pay Melgen back for the lavish gifts in money, he did pay him back using the currency of his Senate office to take official action to benefit the South Florida doctor,” prosecutors wrote. “Email exchanges between the defendants, their agents, and officials from Executive Branch agencies will show Menendez’s considerable efforts to pressure the Executive Branch on Melgen’s behalf. And testimony from the agency officials over whom he exerted that pressure will illuminate the relentlessness of those efforts.”

Menendez is the first senator charged with bribery since the late Sen. Harrison Williams, another New Jersey Democrat, was convicted in 1981 in the Abscam case. The Williams case could come into play again if Menendez is found guilty because of the timing of his ultimate resignation.

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

mansakhalifa:
Who wrote this nonsense?

Do people fish on shores? @ "...the shores of the Atlantic Ocean".

And I hope the clown isn't trying to lump the Norwegian and Barents seas into the Atlantic zone? Cos they are far away in the Arctic Ocean.

white people fvcked up the ol place....!!
you cant deny that fact....!!

do this things still look like fishes to you....!!??

slyfoxxjoe:
yes I’m sure. Of course there are rules. But thats my point, This is Nigeria. No one follows rules. Check what happened to Dana. That plane should not have taken off. They must have known it only had one functioning engine. And then that one too failed mid flight. A plane does not lose all four engines in one flight. The chances of that are astronomically low.

true....

ofcourse we have some bad eggs too....
but in general,you rarely hear nigerian passenger planes crashin....

i didnt even knew this speed limiter thingy exists sef....

i just try to dont die getting from a to b....
or kill anybody else in the process....

i dont remember lately any passenger nigerian planes crashin either....

you nigerians are una own worstest enemy....

slyfoxxjoe:
A plane has four engines and can run on only one. They decided to turn back because they lost one engine despite the fact they had 3 back ups. That’s an organization and country that cares about safety of people. If it were a Nigerian airline, they would fire on until the last engine packs up.

are you sure about this statement....??

their are international rules how to fly planes that nigerian pilots adhor to too....

nobody died....
no big deal....

can happen....

....

kabe1:
Ezugwu MRAP in the front lines of the Northeast.

blaimy,that was quick deployed on the front lines....

nigeria dangerous oo....

Austine1212:
Which country have you traveled to?

none....always in nigeria....

what a silly question....

netpro:
The deep ocean bed remains the most unexplored part of the planet.

There is nothing "demonic" about these unique creatures. There are still many things we don't know about our planet.

seriously....this look like mutations....

Kazikazi:
OK,let's leave that Abidjan. I thought one Ghanaian went to ask help from ivory coast

wat....??

Kazikazi:
That Abidjan can't come closer to the largest city in east Africa. Dar es salaam,Tanzania

now am very disappointed by you now....

so this stvpid discussion about kenya and nigeria,should become west africa against east africa now....

you are amongst those that even made common sense on this thread....now this....??

nawa....

theenchanter:
so, explain why germany and france don't have much skyscrappers.

am surprised that kazikazi of all people is talkin like this....

ottersberger:
Calm down bro...

With humor, there is life.

yeah....!!

vaxx1:
Accra 10 lanes ......

chai....

you badt oo....

ottersberger:
So...

Everyone know that these neighbors have been illegally freeloading on Nigeria's resources since Adam. Our Ghanaian brothers are also culpable to an extent in this enterprise.

Now, for reasons of proximity and severity, The Beninese and their Togolese co-conspirators have been raping Nigeria's economy the most. So, they becoming the 37th and 38th states of Nigeria really changes nothing.

Admittedly, our population will increase by an additional 19 million heads, but so will our territorial mass by additional 171.548 km² as well.

Nigeria will finally get to control the seaports that do so much damage to It's economy and also take in the receipts. Much like a corporate takeover with decisions making in Abuja (Assuming France went comatose).

what the hell are you talkin about....??
believe it or not this nations have their prides too....

we are already toghether anyways through ecowas and similar culture....

i see it as some type of,only you and no body else stuffs....

vaxx1:
Germany rural settlement has a 100 percent of anything obtainable in the German city including farming factory. I actually don't see south africa been better in this regards. South Africa actually has it better than many africa state but that dosnt mean she is totally free of the attributes of africa. there is ghetto, slums, unregulated urban area , and high presence of poverty, unhygenic condition etc.. .. South Africa might be better than some of africa state but the gaps is not something spectacular....

the funny part is,we dont even care....

even south africa is still far below european nations....

am surprised they dont even bothered to compare themselves with any european nation,whether east or west....

AJOBI77:
Oga, Calm down. Read the post again. This time line by line. The man is a Keyan. A professor. Don't be a first to comment without comprehension advocate. Regards

dont even try to deny the kenyans now....!!

you all banded against us months ago....

walahi border closure was the best that apc did till now....!!

lets find out who cares about nonesense....

vannessa7:
With your 50 million population compared to our 180 million, you are hallucinating. Just pray it doesn't happen

and still growin....!!

Austine1212:
I don't take youyou serious

a nigerian is tellin you know to dont even dare....
we dont like you that much either....

soo....

ottersberger:
If our neighbour to the west, Benin and their neighbour Togo, cannot reasonably exist without resort to export into Nigeria, those goods which they did not produce by themselves, but imported solely for the purpose of leveraging the numerically and economically superior Nigerian market.

And, if the demands of their energy needs can only be satisfied by the smuggling of Petrol, imported and subsidized by an already impoverished Nigerian tax payers, I think that makes a valid case that we need to sit down with them, and discuss how they will join the federation as the 37th and 38th states.

discuss what....!!??

keep the borders closed....!!

didnt you hear the news when obasanjo said,this border issue was already their as he was president,back then....??

Multiplier7:
I actually stopped reading comments to reply this gibberish that you wrote up there.

1. From all your comments, I discovered you are not a Nigerian.

2. Must a soldier die in a battle field before he accomplishes his aim? Well, Not a single soldier died because they are professionals in what they do.

3. I believe you are from Southern Africa, so let me put it straight... How many times have SA given Nigeria money before? None... But during Mandela era, Olusegun Obasanja DASHED you guys money

4. Yes! We fought you guys apartheid but you guys failed to help Fight Book Haram of which the Nigerian Army is winning the war already.

What more

5. Instead of South Africa to return the big brother treatment, they went ahead to repay the kind gestures with Xenophobia.

6. We can never be giant of poverty because without Nigeria, there is no Africa. The richest African Man is a Nigerian. And among the top 10 richest African, more than 3 Nigerians came up.

7. We are not illeterate. We think before we talk not the South Africans that talk before they think. You get.

So who is the illiterate here?

fire for fire....!!

JaceBlaze:
So can Nigeria invade SA?

why would we want to invade a shitthole....??

your donald trump said so....

Correcto:
It means most black SA citizens are insane because they are xenophobes while the white SS citizens are racist. What a great combo?

strange combo....!!

Correcto:
It is obvious you don't understand global politics. Have asked your self why and how India acquired Nuclear submarine? Do understand Nigeria is great nation with huge untapped resources? Do you know why SA dismantled their weapons? Don't start what you can't finish? Nigeria threat to develop nuclear weapon can force the world to dismantle nuclear batteries in SA talk more of weapons.

they dont gerrit somehow....
this world is not only about black and white....

Austine1212:
With what money?

Wars are not worth it, they are expensive no country sells nuclear weapons Russia is was considering dismantling them is US does the same

wat....

talk english and not africawetin....!!

Correcto:
South Africa nuclear power? lol!!!!!!!! You mean the dismantled weapons. You must be crazy!!!! If SA have s single nuclear weapon Nigeria won't hesitate to pay Russia for Nuclear weapons

whites knew why they dismantled them....
they knew if other blacks are confronted with a black nation that has nuclear weapons,
all other blacks would want it too at all costs....!!

JaceBlaze:
You can't even retrieve some of your states from the tight grip of Boko Haram yet you think you can wipe out SA? it would be the last dumb move in your entire lives.

you think we are scared of your toys....??

we are many and ruthless....
nigeria was hardest hit by boko haram in west africa....
and we still are showing the world a black middle finger....!!

news about boko in ghana,chad,togo,benin and others....??

Crazychris:
but I don't

then,why are you still thinkin about her and even dreamin of her....??

you still like her....thats why....