From our Bureau of Gold Bars in Closets with some assistance from our Bureau of US Senators Frequently Targeted by Castro, Inc.
This is a sad story any way you look at. If Senator Menendez is guilty indeed, what he did places all Cuban-Americans in a bad light. If he is innocent, then Castro, Inc. has finally managed to unfairly torpedo one their most ardent opponents in the US Senate.
Castro, Inc. has been relentless in its efforts to besmirch Menendez, including a previous set of false accusations involving bribes and prostitution. A longtime Democrat, he is now being asked to resign by his own party, even though he plans to appeal his conviction. If that conviction is upheld, he could face a 200-year prison sentence. Ay! Miserere nobis, Domine, Cubani sumus.
From the masters of the stiff upper lip at the BBC
New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez has been found guilty on 16 counts tied to a scheme where he accepted bribes, including gold bars and a Mercedes-Benz, in exchange for helping foreign governments.
A jury convicted Menendez of all charges after more than 12 hours of deliberation over three days. The trial lasted nine weeks.
Menendez – formerly the head of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee – now faces the prospect of decades in prison.
Democratic lawmakers have called on him to step down from Congress in light of his conviction.
“Senator Menendez must now do what is right for his constituents, the Senate, and our country, and resign,” said Democratic Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer in a statement.
Speaking to reporters after his conviction, Menendez maintained that he is innocent.
“I never violated my public oath,” he said outside the New York City courthouse on Tuesday. “I have never been but a patriot of my country and for my country.”
His lawyer, Adam Fee, said that he was “surprised and disappointed” with the jury’s guilty verdict and has vowed to appeal “aggressively.”
Prosecutors said the case represented “shocking levels of corruption.”
“This wasn’t politics as usual, this was politics for profit,” said Damian Williams, an attorney for the Southern District of New York.
“Now that the jury has convicted Bob Menendez, his years of selling his office to the highest bidder have finally come to an end,” Mr Williams said.
Menendez pleaded not guilty in the trial. His lawyers argued that the gifts he accepted did not qualify as bribes, because prosecutors had failed to prove that he took any specific action as a result of receiving them.
Continue reading HERE
I cannot say whether or not Menendez is guilty, but I’m pretty certain that, at worst, he’s no more guilty of corruption than our sitting president. Menendez has always been vulnerable due to his distinctly non-PC stance on Cuba policy, and I have no doubt that played into his fall due to lack of support from the Dem establishment, which he would have gotten otherwise. I’ve always had reservations about him, though not in terms of money-based corruption but rather character. In any case, this does not help our cause.
I feel ambivalent regarding Menendez. As the saying goes: “It’s not enough for Caesar’s wife to be virtuous, she must be seen to be virtuous.” As Cuban Americans, we should know that quote applies to us more than even to Caesar’s wife [especially to us more than to any other ethnic group] and I’m afraid Menendez was absolutely reckless. After his first trial and exoneration, he should have been walking on tippy toes, but he wasn’t. He got involved with a bleached-blond bimbo who has ruined him. I understand from certain people close to him that she is a bit unethical [to put it lightly].
He has always done a lot for Cuba and as a Cuban American, I was proud of him for being a Cuban senator, but he dropped the ball so hard that he has sullied whatever good he had done. [sigh] Perhaps he thought that because he was part of the “in-group” [i.e. DNC], he would receive the same privileges and considerations as other democrats. Where are his LATRINO colleagues in the House? God knows he has done so much for them.
Considering all that Trump has been accused of these days, I am not ready to accept the verdict on Menendez immediately.
I believe the reason Menendez has gone through these accusations is the same as the reason Trump has. Because the New Jersey Senator has crossed the O’Biden administration, by criticizing policy.