Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is just the latest voice in a Democratic chorus calling for the New Jersey senator to leave office
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has joined the calls for Bob Menendez to resign, after the Democratic US senator from New Jersey was charged with accepting gold bars, a Mercedes-Benz and other gifts as bribes.
Speaking on Sunday, Ocasio-Cortez said the charges against Menendez were “extremely serious” and he should step down.
A growing number of Democrats are calling for Menendez, who has represented New Jersey in the Senate since 2006, to resign.
Menendez is accused of using his position to aid Egypt’s authoritarian government and pressuring federal prosecutors to drop a case against a friend.
Things that republicans would never do
(asking a party member to step down/face consequences due to corruption)
It would be more impressive if they had asked Menendez to step down the last time he was on trial for corruption-related crimes.
On April 1, 2015, the United States Department of Justice indicted Menendez and Melgen in United States v. Menendez (3d Cir. 2016). The charges against Menendez included bribery, fraud, and making false statements.
How many of the dems calling for his resignation weren't in office in 2015? My hope is most of them; evidence of changing times where the dems will call each other out more.
I'm not sure. It is good that they are calling for his resignation now.
Somewhat off topic, but it really gets my goat that this guy is pulling the “witch hunt” bullshit that the other side so often does:
“For years, forces behind the scenes have repeatedly attempted to silence my voice and dig my political grave. Since this investigation was leaked nearly a year ago, there has been an active smear campaign of anonymous sources and innuendos to create an air of impropriety where none exists,” Menendez said in a statement, adding that prosecutors see him as a political “obstacle.”
Motherfucker, you had envelopes full of cash stuffed in your pockets that had the DNA of the man who’s suspected of bribing you on them. For fuck’s sake.
Anyway, great to see some on team Dem call for his resignation. That said, I’m keeping my eyes peeled for any that that decide to circle the wagons.
It sickens me too that he pulled the "this is just how politics works and they are making a big deal out of nothing" card.
What he's doing is probably how a whole lot of Congress works.
It is, also, a really big deal. This shit needs shut down hard.
Schumer is explicitly backing Menendez.
Warnock is waffling and refusing to criticize him.
Other than Fetterman, those are the only Senate Democrats I've heard from.
SkinnerPathetic.jpg
Democrats are SO BAD at politics, my word! Keeping this dude around has only downsides politically, even if you don't care about him messing with international arms transfers to make a buck.
I call for him to be tried for his alleged crimes
Imagine that happening. Politicians breaking laws and instead of just stepping down with a "whoops, my bad", they actually had to go to trial. Ah, a person can dream.
He has been federally indicted. That greatly increases his chances of seeing real consequences for this.
He was charged before. Hung jury, mistrial, then acquitted. Weaker case as I understand it. But I agree he needs to resign.
Indeed. Even if he's not guilty, combating these legal troubles will almost certainly interfere with his ability to effectively govern.
As a life long progressive and Democrat voter, he needs to resign.
We will never know about the personal phone calls he's taking regarding the same thing. AOC probably doesn't mean much to him.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has joined the calls for Bob Menendez to resign, after the Democratic US senator from New Jersey was charged with accepting gold bars, a Mercedes-Benz and other gifts as bribes.
Menendez is accused of using his position to aid Egypt’s authoritarian government and pressuring federal prosecutors to drop a case against a friend.
Ocasio-Cortez’s remarks on Menendez come after she has previously called for a federal investigation into Clarence Thomas, the conservative supreme court justice, over his acceptance of undeclared gifts from wealthy rightwing donors.
In August, ProPublica reported that Thomas had taken “at least 38” undeclared vacations funded by billionaires and accepted gifts including expensive sports tickets.
Ocasio-Cortez had also previously called on Republican congressman George Santos to step down after he was indicted earlier this year for fraud, money laundering and other federal charges.
FBI agents investigating Menendez discovered “a lot of gold”, allegedly provided by businessman Fred Daibes, in the senator’s home, as well as about $500,000 in cash.
The original article contains 689 words, the summary contains 164 words. Saved 76%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
You know, after what happened to Al Franken, let the man have his day in court. Justice in the United States is supposed to operate on the idea of innocent until proven guilty. I'm not going to judge a man on reported facts, but will make a judgment on him based on court evidence.
Dude has had numerous bribery scandals throughout his career. Innocent until proven guilty applies to a courthouse, not your elected officials.
Oh, I believe the guy totally did it, but he still gets his day in court first.
This really exemplifies the difference between the two parties.
In the Republican party, when someone is caught taking bribes or luxury vacations from billionaires then the rest of the party rallies behind them and says all the accusations are a fake DemocRAT witch hunt.
In the Democratic party, when someone is caught doing the same thing the rest of the party whines loudly about it and then does nothing to actually force the corrupt politician to face consequences.
Truly the best country on Earth!
No consequences other than the indictment and charges he's facing?
No consequences from the Party.
Democrats believe in The Process, rather than just forcing him out of the Party immediately.
So you're mad that they want there to be an investigation into wrong-doing rather than just jumping straight to the punishment?
It's not like AOC can kick him out of the Senate from her seat in the house.
Where is the investigation?
Seriously? Where do you think the indictment came from?
He's being charged in federal court. Are you mad that the Democratic party itself isn't conducting the investigation?
Do you think the Democratic Party has no levers of power that it could use on him right now? It seems pretty damn clear cut - they found fucking gold bars! There's pictures!
Jesus Christ man, it's been like two days. If things keep going the way it looks like they're going, he'll be gone soon enough.
What about Al Franken?
Sexual misconduct (with photo evidence!) is a bit different from corruption. You don't have to grope women to become a Senator. You do have to take money from generous donors. The difference between corruption and politics is a line in the sand.
There was no photo evidence though. And that was the problem.
There's definitely a photo of him joke groping a sleeping woman.
No there isn't. Even in the photo it's clear he didn't touch her. You're misrepresenting it wildly. Was the photo crass, tasteless and juvenile. Absolutely. Did he actually grope or sexually assault anyone? There's more evidence that the woman accusing him did herself. Than there is that he did. At least be honest.
That's what I meant by "joke groping"? Actually groping someone isn't a joke, pretending to clearly is (like you said).
Also? That's not "crass, tasteless and juvenile" it's just harassment. If a man treated me that way I'd raise hell too.
How is it harassment? If someone takes a single photograph of you. In a place where you have no expectation of privacy. Regardless of what they may or may not be doing in it. What makes that in and of itself harassment?
And let me be clear here that the following in no way justifies or makes what Franken did acceptable. But there's literally videos and pictures of her physically touching and groping enlisted men on stage. Non-consensually at that. I do not find her a trustworthy or reliable narrator. At worst, franken's photo was a rather benign product of the overly toxic environment in which it was taken. The accuser guilty of much worse. Both were bad. One was worse. What Franken did however doesn't really qualify as harassment without wildly misrepresenting what it was. A single photo. Not a series. And without any demonstrable larger intent to demean or harass. Definitely inappropriate. As is a lot of what goes on with USO shows. But calling it harassment is a bit beyond the pale.
What was the outcome of the U.S. Senate Ethics Committee's investigation into Al Franken's misconduct?
He was forced to resign because of the investigation started by McConnell.
Don't worry, I found it.
From Wikipedia:
"Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer sent Tweeden's accusations to the Senate Ethics Committee for review, a decision supported by members of both parties, including Franken."
"Although Franken had asked to be allowed to appear before the Senate Ethics Committee to give his side of the story, on December 6 Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told him he had to announce his resignation by five o’clock or he could be censured and stripped of committee assignments."
Got to love due process and justice for all.
Fair enough. I thought he testified - so actually, Democrats are worse than I thought. They don't care about The Process or ethics lol
It's… a lot of women though. And looking at the article:
In September 2019, a ninth accuser told New York magazine that in 2006 Franken touched her buttock in a photo line at an event for Patty Murray. The unnamed woman, described as a "former staffer who served on Democratic campaigns and works at a large progressive organization", said she had not come forward because she feared it would be held against her in her career.[155] In response, Franken told New York, "Two years ago, I would have sworn that I'd never done anything to make anyone feel uncomfortable, but it's clear that I must have been doing something. As I've said before, I feel terrible that anyone came away from an interaction with me feeling bad."[156]
I can't help but notice he doesn't say say "these accusations are lies and the women are liars". He couches everything he's saying in "I would have sworn" and "I'm sorry you feel that way". That's such obvious bullshit he was trained to say by his lawyers lol
I guess people do only what their lawyers tell them to say and not actually go through personal growth; learn that their actions may have negatively affected someone, learn from that experience and grow as a person to become better from what they were before.
Sexual misconduct (with photo evidence!) is a bit different from corruption.
Democrats believe in The Process, until they don't.
There was an ethics investigation for Franken. That's a process.
Let's see if there is one for Menendez (this time, because this shit has happened before). Maybe Democrats will surprise me!
@queermunist @MicroWave You're right, but I do not think the US is the best country. I'm not saying Russia and/or China are good, they clearly aren't.
