Corruption

Democratic Senator Robert Menendez has been one of the very few Democrats who had the courage to question Barack Obama's headlong effort to appease the Iranians and ultimately, set the stage for the radical Islamist government in Tehran to build nuclear weapons. Menendez has also insisted that the Congress be involved in the approval of any "agreement" that the administration comes to with Tehran. Barack Obama is not pleased.

As an aside, Menendez has also criticized the Obama administration capitulation in Cuba, where, incredibly, the Castro brothers are allowed to make demands of us, and we cave. On both Iran and Cuba, Menendez is correct, and more important, I suspect he voices the feelings of more than a few Democrats in the Congress. Those other Democrats will now remain silent. Here's why.

By pure coincidence, I'm sure, Obama's justice department let leak that it intends to bring corruption charges again Menendez. An investigation has been on-going for almost two years, but by pure coincidence, the DoJ will bring charges right now -- not next month or next quarter, but right now. The reason, of course, is obvious, to destablize Menendez's push to defy Obama. More importantly, it is intended as a message to other Dems—don't mess with the White House.

The New York Times, Obama's public relations arm, reports:

The Justice Department is preparing to file corruption charges against Senator Robert Menendez, a scrappy 61-year-old veteran of New Jersey politics, after a two-year investigation into allegations that he accepted gifts and lavish vacations in exchange for political favors for a longtime friend and political benefactor.

A law enforcement official said on Friday that the charges would be filed within a month against Mr. Menendez, the son of Cuban immigrants, who rose from a childhood in the tenements to become the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and is now the highest-ranking Latino Democrat in Congress.

In all likelihood, Menendez is guilty of doing what a majority of all politicians (Dems and GOP) do daily—sell their votes for cash, perks, and private sector access. But that's really not the issue. Why the indictment now?

The NYT finally buries the core of this in the 25th paragraph of their piece. They write:

Mr. Menendez has been a frequent critic of the Obama administration on its policies in Cuba and Iran, and on Friday, the senator’s defenders — as well as an unlikely ally, the Drudge Report —suggested that the Justice Department was attempting to embarrass or silence him.

Ya think?

If a good man inhabited the oval office, Dem or GOP, he would recognize that an indictment at this moment would be perceived for what it is, political payback, and would postpone it until the Iran issue is resolved. Lord knows, the DoJ has become just another political arm of this White House, so asking for a delay would be easy.

Just imagine for a moment the main stream media response if a GOP president were to indict a member of his party who was a vocal critic. The NYT, the LAT, the WaPo, NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN, and MSNBC would be far less concerned with the alleged wrong doing but would scream bloody murder that political intimidation was at play.

At the end of the day, this is all about corruption, but the more serious kind comes from the oval office, not Robert Menendez. This is Chicago politics at it worst, but comes as no surprise from this administration.

UPDATE:
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It's likely that Menendez is not corruption-free relative to his relationship with donors, but he did show political courage in his opposition to this president. It also looks like he knew there would be retribution. Bridget Johnson reports:

Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) foreshadowed today’s news that the Department of Justice is preparing corruption charges against him by hinting to AIPAC that his political enemies would try to “break” him for his resolve on Iran sanctions.

Menendez, the ranking member on the Foreign Relations Committee and a longtime proponent of tough measures on Iran to prevent the Islamic Republic from getting a nuclear weapon, has long been a thorn in the side of the White House for his determination to keep and impose tough sanctions.

But last Friday, Menendez upped the ante.

On top of the reintroduction of sanctions legislation with Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) that the administration disliked, he introduced a bill Friday that the White House really hates: one that requires congressional approval of an Iran deal.

Menendez introduced the legislation with Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), and Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.). The bill mandates that the president submit the text of any nuclear agreement with Iran to Congress and prohibits the administration from suspending congressional sanctions for 60 days. During that period, Congress would have the opportunity to hold hearings and approve, disapprove or take no action on the agreement.

Both the Kirk-Menendez sanctions and the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act are strongly bipartisan and likely to receive veto-proof majorities. Menendez has been absolutely critical to rallying Dem support.

It should be noted that Menendez' speech at AIPAC came the day before the Bibi Netanyahu speech. It must have infuriated Obama or senior members of the Team of 2s. The result is the leak of an indictment. Just a coincidence.