WASHINGTON — Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) pleaded not guilty to bribery in New York today after allegedly pocketing hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, gold bars and a sleek Mercedes-Benz.
At a press conference this week, the senator refused to resign and explained that the close-to-$500,000 in cash stuffed in his clothes was his rainy day fund, legally withdrawn from his bank — although he didn’t elaborate on where the upward of $100,000 in gold came from, let alone the black Benz.
So, are piles of cash and gold just a normal part of life in the secretive club that is the United States Senate?
Raw Story asked a dozen of Menendez’ colleagues if they too have piles of cash and stacks of gold tucked away at their homes.
“Hell, I ain’t got none. My wife might keep it,” Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) told Raw Story.
“Why would you even ask me a question like that,” Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) replied when asked. “There are certain questions that are appropriate and some that are completely inappropriate, that’d be a completely inappropriate question.”
“I don’t have anything for you,” Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA).
“I don’t do gold bars. I admitted that on national TV today. No gold bars,” Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) said. “I don’t understand Jersey. Ask some Democrats.”
“No I don’t, in fact, because you need to be prepared for emergencies, we got an extra flashlight at Costco,” Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) told Raw Story.
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Per her usual, Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) refused to answer, though she cracked up at the question, while Finance Committee chairman, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), smirked, he shook his head “no comment.”
More than half of Senate Democrats, including Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), are now on the record calling for Menendez to resign, but that doesn’t mean they want to discuss their indicted colleague.
“Too soon. Too soon,” Booker told Raw Story. “I’m not going to talk anymore beyond — right now — beyond my statement.”
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While it’s well-established that members of Congress are, on average, much more wealthy than the average American, and many of them love to play the stock market, back to the basic question: Are stockpiles of cash and gold bars part of Senate culture?
“No. I don’t know. It’s not for me,” Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) told Raw Story. “I can’t answer for anyone else.”
Brown, the chair of the Senate Banking Committee, says there’s no question in his mind Menendez has to go now.
“It’s clear cut to me,” Brown said. “I spent much of my career doing the right things — all my career — and I have been critical of corruption in the state legislature, I’ve been critical of the White House. It doesn’t matter that Menendez is a Democrat when it comes to this.”
While Democrats have piled on Menendez — seeking his quick resignation as the party heads into a hard 2024 Senate election cycle — many Senate Republicans are quick to point out that he’s yet to face a jury of his peers.
“We don’t try people on how it looks. The evidence has to withstand scrutiny. He has the chance to defend himself,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) told Raw Story. “We’ll see how it plays out.”
Graham, a former JAG lawyer and top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, says he wasn’t all that surprised prosecutors dropped charges against Menendez in 2018 after a hung jury in 2017.
“I understand the jury system pretty well,” Graham said.
For the second time in the past decade, Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) has been tapped to take over for Menendez as chair of the Foreign Relations Committee while the New Jersey senator fights corruption charges in court.
“This is heart wrenching for all of us, because the impact it has on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the impact it has on the Senate, the impact it has on public service – all of the above. It is hard,” Cardin told Raw Story.
That means, once again, Cardin is left playing clean up. He’s just getting re-settled as chairman and hasn’t heard from any ambassadors — yet.
“No. Not yet, but I’m sure they will be,” Cardin said.
Seems most senators didn’t really tune in to Menendez’ first trial.
“I didn’t watch it. I didn’t know what was going on there,” Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) told Raw Story. “But this is so obvious, you follow me?”
After the first bribery case, the Senate Ethics Committee did release an uncharacteristically bruising report “severely admonishing” Menendez for accepting gifts from a wealthy donor.
To many senators, even being asked if they have stacks of cash and gold bars in their homes is startling.
“What do you mean?” Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) whipped around and asked Raw Story as he exited the Capitol Tuesday evening. “Oh, you’re being facetious!”
Grassley is the former chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. He says his opinion doesn’t matter — the evidence and the trial are what matter.
“I think it's pretty simple. He's been accused of something. You're innocent until proven guilty. I take the position with a lot of politicians that are in trouble, you let the judicial process work its way through and then the electorate makes a final decision,” Grassley said.
Still, Grassley offers this admonition to all his colleagues.
“I want to make something very clear related to Menendez or anybody else,” Grassley lectured, “Bribery is wrong!”
Pablo Manríquez contributed to this report.
