Government

Justice Won't Retry Bob Menendez, And Jersey Continues To Be The Shadiest Place In America

In New Jersey, there is no high-ground, just mounds of trash.

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(AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Senator Bob Menendez (D-BaDa Bing) achieved a mistrial in his corruption trial, late last year. Prosecutors alleged that Menendez took gifts from a wealthy doctor, Salomon Melgen, in exchange for helping Melgen get visas for his girlfriends and, like, helped the doctor fight Medicare.

I’m sure that happened because… THAT’S HOW THIS WORKS, but a jury full of people from freaking Jersey couldn’t agree. Here’s a great quote from the Washington Post from one of the jurors:

Norris, a 49-year-old equipment operator from Morris County, said that the evidence was mostly emails and that he “didn’t see a smoking gun.’’

“I don’t think the government proved anything,’’ Norris said. “I didn’t see anything bad that he did.’’

Norris said that the panel was clearly divided from the moment deliberations began, but that it did not get angry or acrimonious.

Yes, area man, evidence of corruption is going to be, mostly, in emails.

Whatever, Menendez predictably treated his mistrial like an acquittal: “I’m going back to Washington to fight for the people of New Jersey.’’ And he added an ominous warning: “For those who were digging my political grave so they could jump into my seat, I know who you are and I won’t forget it.”

Anytime you’ve been accused of accepting gifts in exchange for political favors, you’ve got to follow it up by promising retribution towards your political enemies. IT’S TIME FOR SOME TRAFFIC PROBLEMS IN FORT LEE!

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I had some hope that Menendez would get re-tried, if only just to bother him. The Justice Department promised to seek a new trial. And since the Justice Department is run by Republicans now and Menendez is a Democrat, I figured at least partisan fighting would be worth something.

But… no.

Following the mistrial, Judge William Walls dismissed seven of the charges against Menendez, but let 11 other ones stand. Evidently, Justice decided that their case was too gutted to continue:

“Given the impact of the court’s Jan. 24 order on the charges and the evidence admissible in a retrial, the United States has determined that it will not retry the defendants on the remaining charges,’’ the Justice Department said in a statement.

Michael Starr Hopkins recently announced he’s challenging Menendez in the Democratic primary. Sorry, let me back up, a U.S. Senator who just went through a months-long corruption trial was basically running unopposed for his party’s nomination until about two days ago, BECAUSE OUR POLITICAL PROCESS IS BROKEN AND GROSS. Hopkins is a lawyer and worked for the Clinton campaign. I don’t really know anything else about him other than that he’s from New Jersey, and that should be like an automatic strike against him, even in a New Jersey primary.

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But, I don’t know, he hasn’t been charged with 18 counts of corruption in the past year, escaping not even with an acquittal but a mistrial. Maybe give him a look? Meanwhile, I’m just going to stay on my side of the Hudson. East bank is the best bank.

Justice Department seeks to toss out charges against Sen. Menendez [Washington Post]

Elie Mystal is the Executive Editor of Above the Law and the Legal Editor for More Perfect. He can be reached @ElieNYC on Twitter, or at [email protected]. He will resist.

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