Robert Torricelli did not get ‘thrown out’ of the senate. He quit his re - election campaign after a videotape was released that made a credible allegation that Torricelli was intimidating a witness in a criminal investigation of Torricelli. This was after the $3,000 dollar suits, the furniture, and the hot tub, and probably after some kind of sweetheart deal involving investigators at the state and federal levels, the New Jersey Supreme Court, and the press. nj.com wrote some half assed editorial, ‘bad senator. bad. bad,’ and immediately pushed for Lautenburg to get Torricelli’s bid for the senate.
And nothing was ever done. Nor will it be done now.
Torch was forced out of office when WNBC’s Jonathan Dienst did an extensive ground-breaking 45-minute news segment on Torricelli’s crooked activities.
Dienst aired a store video clip showing Torch entering a convenience right after his accuser (who later went to jail) had entered.....suggesting intimidation.
The US Senate Ethics Committee came to Torch’s defense.
Torricelli said he had “made a mistake” taking expensive gifts from his accuser.
By then, it was all over. He was out.