After half a week during which much of the Democrat establishment in Washington spent time denouncing the disclosures about Democrat senator Robert Menendez as nothing more than a smear, more information came out yesterday that pushes the case against Menendez much further along. Menendez, you may recall, is accused mainly of two things: 1)taking a "gift" of flights in a private jet and vacations in a villa in the Dominican Republic from a big contributor who allegedly was seeking help with his disputes with the IRS; and 2)engaging in sex with underage prostitutes during those trips. The trips were in 2009 and 2010. In the beginning of 2013, when the trips made their way into the news, Menendez repaid his contributor $58,000 for the cost of the jet flights and said that he had just overlooked that payment. In essence, Menendez excuse was that although he always intended to pay, he had forgotten to pay the $58000 for the flights.
Yesterday's news is an analysis in the National Journal that points out that according to his Senate financial disclosure forms, Menendez only has cash and bank accounts that total between $66,000 and $165,000. He has not got much in the way of other assets either. This has enormous impact. Menendez is now telling us that he always intended to spend probably more than half of his savings on a few flights to the Dominican Republic even though he could have flown commercial for probably around $1000. Really? The truth is that this new revelation makes clear that Menendez always believed that he was getting the flights for free. And, if the flights were free, Menendez failure to disclose them constituted at least a violation of senate ethics rules.
And while we are discussing this, I want to mention another aspect of the Menendez matter. Democrat leaders like Harry Reid have castigated those who print the allegations of Menendez' consorting with underage prostitutes by denouncing the multiple women who have made the claim as "nameless" and "faceless". Menendez and Reid have both said that there is not a scintilla of evidence that he slept with these underage prostitutes. This is incredible. First of all, the Daily Caller says that it has spoken to the prostitutes involved. Its stories quote them and even attach copies of email that seem to confirm the stories. This is evidence, and it is a whole lot more than just a scintilla. Second, watching the Democrats denounce the nameless and faceless women who were alleged victims of what would be statutory rape in America reminded me of the reaction to the story of the Duke lacrosse team. Remember that? Members of the Duke University lacrosse team were arrested and convicted in the media of raping a woman. The press and the liberal establishment went crazy when that woman's identity came out in the course of the story. It was, according to the progressives, a travesty and an outrage for the "victim" of the lacrosse players to be something other than nameless and faceless. Of course, it ultimately turned out that there was no rape and the lacrosse players were totally innocent. They had to go through a year of hell, however, while the victim's identity was protected. Now the very forces who tried so hard to keep the identity of the Duke victim a secret are up in arms about the underage hookers in the Dominican Republic being nameless and faceless. But the stupidity and hipocrisy of this position is even worse. The names of some of the underage prostitutes have been made public, and in the Daily Caller no less. That means that the liberal press has not even bothered to read the Daily Caller articles in full.
I have a prediction. Senator Menendez is going to resign. It may not be this week or even this month, but by the end of 2013, there will be a new senator from New Jersey. There seems to me to be too much smoke here for there to be no fire.
Yesterday's news is an analysis in the National Journal that points out that according to his Senate financial disclosure forms, Menendez only has cash and bank accounts that total between $66,000 and $165,000. He has not got much in the way of other assets either. This has enormous impact. Menendez is now telling us that he always intended to spend probably more than half of his savings on a few flights to the Dominican Republic even though he could have flown commercial for probably around $1000. Really? The truth is that this new revelation makes clear that Menendez always believed that he was getting the flights for free. And, if the flights were free, Menendez failure to disclose them constituted at least a violation of senate ethics rules.
And while we are discussing this, I want to mention another aspect of the Menendez matter. Democrat leaders like Harry Reid have castigated those who print the allegations of Menendez' consorting with underage prostitutes by denouncing the multiple women who have made the claim as "nameless" and "faceless". Menendez and Reid have both said that there is not a scintilla of evidence that he slept with these underage prostitutes. This is incredible. First of all, the Daily Caller says that it has spoken to the prostitutes involved. Its stories quote them and even attach copies of email that seem to confirm the stories. This is evidence, and it is a whole lot more than just a scintilla. Second, watching the Democrats denounce the nameless and faceless women who were alleged victims of what would be statutory rape in America reminded me of the reaction to the story of the Duke lacrosse team. Remember that? Members of the Duke University lacrosse team were arrested and convicted in the media of raping a woman. The press and the liberal establishment went crazy when that woman's identity came out in the course of the story. It was, according to the progressives, a travesty and an outrage for the "victim" of the lacrosse players to be something other than nameless and faceless. Of course, it ultimately turned out that there was no rape and the lacrosse players were totally innocent. They had to go through a year of hell, however, while the victim's identity was protected. Now the very forces who tried so hard to keep the identity of the Duke victim a secret are up in arms about the underage hookers in the Dominican Republic being nameless and faceless. But the stupidity and hipocrisy of this position is even worse. The names of some of the underage prostitutes have been made public, and in the Daily Caller no less. That means that the liberal press has not even bothered to read the Daily Caller articles in full.
I have a prediction. Senator Menendez is going to resign. It may not be this week or even this month, but by the end of 2013, there will be a new senator from New Jersey. There seems to me to be too much smoke here for there to be no fire.
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