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WSJ Editorial Wrong About Menendez Indictment
NLPC ^ | May 15, 2015 | Peter Flaherty

Posted on 05/15/2015 9:13:31 AM PDT by jazusamo


It’s been almost a month since the Wall Street Journal ran an editorial titled “The Menendez Indictment.” We responded in a letter to the editor that has not been published. It’s a safe bet it never will be, so we post it here.

The Journal got to the point in its opening paragraph:

Ill-defined federal laws now reach into virtually every sphere of human behavior, and thus prosecutors can destroy almost anyone they choose. The recent indictment of Senator Robert Menendez on 14 counts of corruption and “honest services” fraud is a troubling case in point that deserves more than a little skepticism.

Here’s our response:

To the Editor:

The Journal argues that prosecutors have “no evidence” of crimes by Senator Robert Menendez ( “The Menendez Indictment,” op-ed, April 16) and points out that the large donations from his chief benefactor, Dr. Salomon Melgen, were “legal and disclosed.”

You gave short shrift to the indictment’s list of twenty flights that Menendez and/or his “guests” took on Melgen’s private jets, none of which were disclosed as gifts as required by the Ethics In Government Act. In 2007, former Rep. Robert Ney (R-OH) went to prison for failing to disclose gifts of travel from lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Menendez defense is that he and Melgen are old friends. Senate Rules, however, limit gifts to Senators to $50. There is an exemption for personal friends, but the limit is $250, and a Senator must secure a written exemption in advance from the Ethics Committee, which Menendez did not do.

When two flights Menendez took in 2010 came to light in 2012, Menendez reimbursed Melgen $58,500, making the dubious claim that his failure to pay was an “oversight.” The $58,500 represented a substantial portion of Menendez’ net worth. At the time, Menendez’office falsely claimed that there were no more flights.

The friendship defense may backfire. Melgen was indicted on April 14 for massively defrauding Medicare. He allegedly preformed unnecessary surgeries and injections on unsuspecting elderly people, including people with prosthetic eyes and patients who were already totally blind. The indictment cites case after case of patients who were purposely misdiagnosed, inflicting trauma on them, and resulting in Medicare bills often totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars per patient.

If the allegations are true, Melgen is a monster, to whom Menendez clings as a friend. Moreover, the “legal and disclosed” political donations may have come out of the proceeds of Medicare fraud, putting them in a somewhat different light.




TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: New Jersey
KEYWORDS: bobmenendez; corruption; democrats; indictment; melgen; menendez; newjersey; nlpc; robertmenendez; salomonmelgen; wsj
Sure Menendez, neglecting to reimburse $58,500 was just an "oversight." Sheesh
1 posted on 05/15/2015 9:13:32 AM PDT by jazusamo
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To: jazusamo

I believe that Menendez was indicted because he opposed obama on the iran agreement but that doesn’t mean he’s innocent! He’s ‘probably’ guilty as hell...guilty of engaging with under aged prostitutes too, as was alleged a couple of years ago.


2 posted on 05/15/2015 9:34:43 AM PDT by pgkdan
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To: pgkdan

Really makes you owner why the Wall Street Journal would be going to bat for a quasi-humanoid mutt like Menendez.


3 posted on 05/15/2015 9:37:08 AM PDT by Alberta's Child ( "It doesn't work for me. I gotta have more cowbell!")
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To: pgkdan
...guilty of engaging with under aged prostitutes too, as was alleged a couple of years ago.

And who subsequently recanted and / or disappeared.

4 posted on 05/15/2015 9:42:45 AM PDT by JimRed (Excise the cancer before it kills us; feed & Ifwater the Tree of Liberty! TERM LIMITS NOW & FOREVER!)
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To: pgkdan

I agree that he probably wouldn’t have been indicted on this but for his opposition to 0bama over Iran but his corruption has long been noted by not only NLPC but others.

He’d have been indicted long ago had he not been a DemocRAT.


5 posted on 05/15/2015 9:44:09 AM PDT by jazusamo (0bama to go 'full-Mussolini' after elections: Mark Levin....and the turkey has.)
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To: JimRed

Yep, I’m sure whoever convinced her/them to change the story made it very clear being fish food is a bad way to go.


6 posted on 05/15/2015 9:47:12 AM PDT by jazusamo (0bama to go 'full-Mussolini' after elections: Mark Levin....and the turkey has.)
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To: pgkdan

That is the kind of thing that Elbee Jay was famous for - “I never trust a man unless I’ve got his p****r in my pocket.”

Menendez forgot that little admonition, and the Current Occupant had the goods on him to pull out at a convenient time, when he strayed from the plantation.

If you have them by the b***s, their hearts and minds will follow. This is just a scrotal torsion to remind the rest of them who is running things.

They may not respect that strategy, but they sure fear it.


7 posted on 05/15/2015 9:50:47 AM PDT by alloysteel ("Before I refuse to take your questions, I have an opening statement..." Ronald Reagan)
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Please bump the Freepathon or click above to donate or become a monthly donor!

8 posted on 05/15/2015 9:52:09 AM PDT by jazusamo (0bama to go 'full-Mussolini' after elections: Mark Levin....and the turkey has.)
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To: jazusamo

“Sure Menendez, neglecting to reimburse $58,500 was just an “oversight.” Sheesh “

Yeah, just like Geo, Steponallofus’ “forgetting” to claim $75k he gave to the Cliton Foundation was an “oversight.” In our government today, virtually no one tells the truth.


9 posted on 05/15/2015 10:22:58 AM PDT by vette6387
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To: jazusamo

Try making a $58,000 oversight on your 1040 and see what happens.


10 posted on 05/15/2015 10:28:57 AM PDT by Lurker (Violence is rarely the answer. But when it is it is the only answer.)
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To: jazusamo
The $58,500 represented a substantial portion of Menendez’ net worth.

He should be kicked out of the Senate for that alone.

If he can't even steal from the taxpayer competently like the rest of them, he deserves to go!

-PJ

11 posted on 05/15/2015 10:31:01 AM PDT by Political Junkie Too (If you are the Posterity of We the People, then you are a Natural Born Citizen.)
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To: Political Junkie Too

Agreed. LOL!


12 posted on 05/15/2015 10:34:49 AM PDT by jazusamo (0bama to go 'full-Mussolini' after elections: Mark Levin....and the turkey has.)
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