Washington Post - "The Department of Justice is planning to bring criminal corruption charges against Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), a U.S. official confirmed Friday, casting renewed attention on the question of whether the senator used his powers to improperly benefit a close ally and political donor."
["The son of Cuban immigrants, he was a lonely but powerful voice among Democrats criticizing President Obama's decision in December to normalize relations with Cuba. He decried the trade of convicted Cuban spies for an imprisoned American aid worker, saying it "vindicated the brutal behavior of the Cuban government."
In the new year, Menendez has assumed a leading role in Senate debates over America's relations with Iran -- again taking a harder line on the issue than the Obama administration.
He is a co-author of two bills with broad Republican support, one that would strengthen economic sanctions against Iran, another that would give Congress the ability to review any deal negotiated in multiparty talks over Iran's nuclear program now underway in Switzerland."]
POLITICO - Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Sunday it’s up to Democrats to decide if Sen. Robert Menendez keeps his party’s top spot on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee if he faces federal corruption charges.
“Typically, when these kinds of charges are brought, people step aside from their leadership positions,” McConnell said. “But that will be up to the Democratic leader, Sen. Reid, to make that call.”
The Hill - "Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) suggested Saturday that the Justice Department’s criminal corruption charges against Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) are political retribution against the New Jersey Democrat for opposing the White House’s negotiations with Iran."
“The timing is curious,” Cruz continued. “This investigation has been going on for over a year and yet the very week they announce a pending indictment comes within hours after Sen. Menendez showing courage to speak out against President Obama’s dangerous foreign policy that is risking the national security of this country.”
New York Times - ["Yet there is no obvious outside contender for Mr. Menendez’s seat, someone who might, like few others, overcome New Jersey’s political inertia.
Mr. Menendez himself was once such a candidate. More than three decades ago, the man now ensnared in a federal investigation made his name as a crusader against corruption, testifying against his political mentor, William V. Musto, Union City’s mayor, in a fraud trial that led to Mr. Musto’s downfall.
James Plaisted, one of the prosecutors in that case, recalled that, at the time, Mr. Menendez was “an extraordinarily principled, idealistic young man.”
“He was bucking the establishment in his town, trying to do the right thing,” Mr. Plaisted said, adding: “I feel very disappointed.”]
