Politico begs the question: Are Senate Dems blowing it on Menendez? Avalanche: Booker demands Menendez resignation

To ask this question — especially from a mainstream media outlet — provides the answer. Politico doesn’t just open with a “Democrats screwing this up” story unless the faceplant is impossible to ignore.

But just in case you need to update your scorecards, the answer is an emphatic yes. Senate Democrats haven’t exactly rallied around Gold Bar Bob Menendez, but they aren’t demonstrating any political courage — and neither is the White House:

In New Jersey, where there are statehouse elections this November and Democrats could lose their majority in Trenton, party leaders from Gov. Phil Murphy on down have been swift and ruthless in calling for Menendez to resign. He already has a credible 2024 primary opponent in Rep. Andy Kim.

In Washington, it’s a different story. President Joe Biden punted, with White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre telling reporters yesterday that the matter was, in the president’s view, “up to [Menendez] and the Senate leadership to decide.” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and No. 2 leader Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), meanwhile, have already made statements standing by Menendez.

That in itself is telling. Don’t forget that the Senate Ethics Committee looked past Menendez’ escape by mistrial in 2017 and condemned Menendez in 2018 for having “knowingly and repeatedly accepted gifts of significant value from Dr. Melgen” over a six-year period — the very issue in his first corruption trial. And that wasn’t all:

During the same period, Menendez used his status as a senator to help Melgen, including by intervening after the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services found that Melgen had overbilled them by $8.9 million, the committee said.

“The Committee concludes that your actions violated Senate Rules and related statutes, and reflected discredit upon the Senate,” it continued, saying Menendez was “severely admonished” for his actions.

Five years later, Menendez is back at it, this time with mountains of cash and gold bars hidden all over his home, cash that has the fingerprints of people for whom Menendez did favors. The best Menendez can come up with as a defense is Fulgencio Batista. And yet the ossified Senate Democrat leadership wants to circle its wagons around the man who clearly didn’t learn any lessons the first time around? Come on, man.

Just how bad is this fumble? Politico features a lecture on ethics and moral responsibility from — wait for it — former senator Robert “The Torch” Torricelli:

“There’s a burden on [Majority Leader] Chuck Schumer right now. As [New Jersey Gov.] Phil Murphy has skillfully navigated New Jersey Democrats to separate themselves from this debacle, the Senate caucus needs to do the same,” says former Democratic Sen. Robert Torricelli. “Otherwise you’re going to get candidates in competitive states like Montana and West Virginia having to answer questions about Menendez and whether he represents a problem in the party.”

Lest anyone fail to note the irony, Torricelli faced a criminal investigation over campaign-finance violations, and himself received an admonishment from the Senate Ethics Committee in 2002. He apologized, however, and then abruptly quit his re-election bid in September 2002, leading to the dodgy-at-best replacement by Frank Lautenberg well after the deadline had passed for ballot changes. (Lautenberg won.) To be lectured on ethics by The Torch is somewhat equivalent to being lectured on discretion by Adam Schiff.

So yes indeed, that amounts to “fumbling the Menendez scandal,” as Politico puts it. And their strategists are aghast at the response:

Many in the Democratic strategist class, who have no senatorial loyalty to Menendez, believe privately that their party is already blowing this by hesitating to cut off a massive political liability that will be used to muddy the waters against Biden and Democratic candidates in House and Senate races next year when the party wants to runs hard against Trump’s multiple criminal indictments.

Gee, ya think? It’s going to be a wee bit hypocritical to bash Trump for his indictments while insisting they don’t really mean anything when Democrats are the targets. That won’t stop the media from circling the wagons, but it will look ridiculous.

At any rate, the strategy isn’t working. John Fetterman may have been the first in the caucus to call for Menendez to resign, but he wasn’t alone for long. Sherrod Brown (OH) and Peter Welch (VT) followed suit yesterday, and Tammy Baldwin (WI) made it four on the floor this morning:

Sen. Tammy Baldwin becomes fourth Dem to call on Menendez to go

“presumption of innocence until proven guilty and will have his day in court to defend himself, I believe it’s best for his constituents, the American people, and our national security for the senator to step down”

— Burgess Everett (asapburgessev on 🧵) (@burgessev) September 26, 2023

And Jon Tester made it five, as well as being the first red-state Senate Dem facing re-election this year to make the call:

Big — Sen. TESTER, a red-state Dem up in ‘24, calls on Menendez to resign.

Tester calls the charges against Menendez “deeply disturbing” & says Menendez should “resign for the sake of the public’s faith in the U.S. Senate.” pic.twitter.com/aDG86hMAeg

— Andrew Desiderio (@AndrewDesiderio) September 26, 2023

Wait — now it’s six, three of whom are from the class of 2024:

A sixth Senate Democrat now calling for Menendez to resign: Bob Casey

“Serving in public office is a privilege that demands a higher standard of conduct. Senator Menendez should resign.”

Like Baldwin, Tester and Brown, Casey is a swing-state senator up for reelection in 2024. pic.twitter.com/SbZHupDtOb

— Andrew Solender (@AndrewSolender) September 26, 2023

And then it turned into a cascade:

13. Getting harder to keep track so I think I’ll stop for now! https://t.co/XerVjh2fDk

— Burgess Everett (asapburgessev on 🧵) (@burgessev) September 26, 2023

This avalanche shows that this should be the easiest call in the world to make. New Jersey has a Democrat governor, a legit contender for the seat in Andy Kim, and a good chance to moot the primary altogether with a Menendez resignation and a temporary Kim appointment from Phil Murphy. If Schumer and Durbin have as their first instinct the priority to circle wagons around a corruptocrat rather than grasping the obvious solution to their problem, perhaps Senate Democrats need to rethink their leadership choices. And maybe they are.

Update: The avalanche got even worse for Menendez this morning:

My statement on Senator Robert Menendez. pic.twitter.com/h7WY9EWwUz

— Sen. Cory Booker (@SenBooker) September 26, 2023

“As Senator Menendez prepares to mount his legal defense, he has stated that he will not resign. Senator Menendez fiercely asserts his innocence and it is therefore understandable that he believes stepping down is patently unfair. But I believe this is a mistake.

“Stepping down is not an admission of guilt but an acknowledgment that holding public office often demands tremendous sacrifices at great personal cost. Senator Menendez has made these sacrifices in the past to serve. And in this case he must do so again. I believe stepping down is best for those Senator Menendez has spent his life serving.”

Booker is Menendez’ colleague from New Jersey, of course, which makes the pressure even higher. The count of Senate Democrats calling for Menendez’ resignation is somewhat ambiguous at the moment, but even some Senate Democrats who initially balked at such a call are reconsidering:

UPDATE: Sen. Mark Kelly issued a statement on Tuesday calling for Sen. Bob Menendez to resign, calling the allegations against him “a breach” of trust and “a burden.” https://t.co/bnpgz4fj8v

— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) September 26, 2023

Nancy Pelosi is now also calling for his resignation. So where are Schumer and Durbin?

Andrew Malcolm and I dive into the Menendez mess in the latest episode of The Ed Morrissey Show podcast.  Today’s show features:

• Robert Menendez remains defiant, but is anyone listening?
• Andrew and I discuss Menendez’ stunning defense, and its utter lack of credibility.
• We also marvel at the Washington Post’s repudiation of its own poll, and why they’re doing so. How much longer can the Protection Racket Media circle the wagons around Joe Biden?

The Ed Morrissey Show is now a fully downloadable and streamable show at  Spotify, Apple Podcasts, the TEMS Podcast YouTube channel, and on Rumble and our own in-house portal at the #TEMS page!