George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley said Washington elites appear to look down upon Democratic New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez for his “prehistoric” corruption style.
A jury found Menendez guilty of all 16 counts of federal corruption and bribery charges relating to the Egyptian government and three New Jersey businessmen paying him thousands of dollars in cash and gold bars in exchange for information. Turley said the senator’s form of corruption is old-school, as opposed to modern corruption, which often takes the form of influence-peddling.
“His form of corruption views in the beltway as virtually prehistoric,” Turley said Tuesday. “I mean, the idea of getting envelopes filled with cash and cars is really sort of Capone-era corruption stuff. I mean, in some ways, some people have contempt just for the lack of sophistication. That’s not how corruption works anymore… Corruption is influence-peddling, like we’ve seen in the Hunter Biden case, where you have all of these rather curious and dubious positions with millions of dollars being passed through accounts. This is really something that Washington has long ago turned its back on.”
Turley Says Washington Elites Appear To Look Down Upon Menendez For His ‘Prehistoric’ Corruption Style pic.twitter.com/XBVl9K5kPO
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President Joe Biden’s family is accused of engaging in an influence-peddling scheme to benefit his son, Hunter, in his overseas business dealings. House Republicans launched an impeachment inquiry in December to investigate the president’s possible involvement in his son’s dealings, including phone calls between Hunter and his father surrounded by his foreign business partners and the $20 million payment made to the Biden family and their business partners. (RELATED: ‘Could Very Well Be A Death Sentence’: Jonathan Turley Says Bob Menendez Faces Long Prison Stay After Conviction)
Turley further criticized senators who he says are only now realizing that Menendez is a corrupt individual. The New Jersey senator was first charged with conspiracy, bribery and honest services fraud in 2015 after an investigation discovered he allegedly accepted $1 million worth of lavish trips, gifts and campaign contributions from Salomon Melgen, a longtime friend and donor, in exchange for visa applications for Melvin’s girlfriends and for influence over millions of dollars worth of Medicare billing disputes.
“But the thing about Menendez that is also so striking is all these senators suggesting that they just discovered that Bob Menendez just might be corrupt,” Turley said. “You know, this is someone who’s been notorious for decades of being an alleged corrupt figure, and yet he was continually given the means to maximize the influx of money. He was given the chairmanship of the Foreign Relations Committee, and by the way, one of the dangerous things about that is you’re dealing with countries where corruption is rampant. You’re dealing with people who expect to be put the touch on for money, who expect to have to give gifts.”
“But if you look at the earlier criminal case that Menendez was able to effectively beat, it had the same pattern. This is in 2015, where he was accused of $60,000 of private flights. $1 million going to his campaign in exchange for gifts. After he dodged that bullet, according to the Department of Justice, he turned around and did it again,” Turley continued.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called on Menendez to resign from the chamber following his conviction.
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