Dem
47
GOP
53
In January of last year, after a bunch of ill-gotten gold bars and other goodies were seized from his residence, then-senator Robert Menendez was indicted on several counts related to corruption and accepting bribes. He was convicted, of course, and yesterday was sentenced to 11 years in the hoosegow. It is interesting that some people who get caught with illegal stuff in their bathrooms get justice in just about a year, while others never do. Hard to figure out what might explain the difference. In case you are wondering, Menendez was never the president of the United States, and so did not appoint the judge who oversaw his case. Nope, U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein was appointed by Bill Clinton.
In court, before sentencing, Menendez showed much contrition, shedding many tears and lamenting that he's "lost everything." Speaking to reporters outside the courthouse, after the sentence was imposed, the former senator was suddenly not so contrite, and said that he was the victim of a vendetta from prosecutors. It would seem that his contrition was not so genuine, and those courtroom waterworks were alligator tears. Clearly, Stein saw right through it.
The fact is, Menendez got exactly what he deserved. First, he grossly abused the trust the voters of New Jersey placed in him. Second, in so doing, he compromised national security, by virtue of his position as his chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Third, he was colossally stupid. He was put on trial for this same thing a decade ago, and got off on a technicality. How foolish do you have to be to go right back to your old, corrupt ways?
Menendez will, of course, work through every possible appeal available to him. However, he thinks his very best hope is a presidential pardon. Joe Biden said "No, thank you," so now the former senator is working on Donald Trump, Much of the post-sentencing press conference involved very obvious invocation of Trumpy rhetoric, like when Menendez claimed that the prosecution was a "political witch hunt."
It is not clear if Menendez is engaging in wishful thinking, or if there is a real chance of Trump granting a pardon. Maybe Trump would like to "confirm" that witch hunts happen, and that they must be corrected for. Or maybe the President could conclude that freeing a Democrat would demonstrate "fairness" and would give the impression that his pardons are not partisan (even though they clearly are). It's also possible that Trump enjoys the bootlicking, and would like to incentivize other Democrats to participate, if circumstances warrant it. Heck, it could even be that Trump, while he doesn't have much in the way of empathy, might feel kinship with a fellow convicted felon.
Menendez very much needs to hope Trump is thinking along these lines since, at 71 years of age, an 11-year sentence is a tough stretch. Since federal sentences are not much reduced, even for good behavior, he'd be in the big house into his eighties. Further, sentences of 10 years or more are not eligible for minimum security facilities, so no playing bridge and making lanyards in a "Club Fed." If Trump does bestow the pardon, and if Menendez then does the rounds praising the Donald and criticizing the Democrats (as happened with another corrupt Democrat, Rod Blagojevich), you should obviously pay the former senator no attention. (Z)