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Robert Menendez has held on to his Senate seat and retained the loyalty of many Democratic colleagues via previous scandals. However, given the present political surroundings and the gravity of the fees he now faces, many fellow Democrats have had sufficient—and voters may activate him too.
First, listed here are three new tales from The Atlantic:
Undermining the Excessive Floor
Yesterday afternoon, a few hours after pleading not responsible to the cost that he had conspired to behave as an agent of a international authorities, Senator Robert Menendez introduced that “the federal government is engaged in primitive searching, by which the predator chases its prey till it’s exhausted after which kills it. This tactic gained’t work.”
The senior senator from New Jersey’s plea—and subsequent defiant assertion—got here only a few weeks after he pleaded not responsible to 3 separate counts of corruption. Menendez and his spouse, Nadine, have been accused of accepting bribes price tons of of 1000’s of {dollars} in trade for serving to the federal government of Egypt and several other businessmen. The unique indictment was fairly dramatic, peppered with speak of greater than $500,000 of stashed-away money and images of gold bars present in his New Jersey house. Inside hours of Menendez’s indictment, a number of state leaders, together with the governor, referred to as on him to step down. However Menendez is combating arduous towards the allegations, at the same time as colleagues activate him.
Menendez has positioned himself as a sufferer, and has invoked identification politics in making an attempt to defend himself. “It’s not misplaced on me how rapidly some are dashing to guage a Latino and push him out of his seat,” he stated shortly after his preliminary indictment was introduced. He has additionally accused “these behind this marketing campaign” of smearing him as a part of their political agenda: “For years, forces behind the scenes have repeatedly tried to silence my voice and dig my political grave,” he stated in an announcement final month. “Menendez has been utilizing explicitly Trump-y speaking factors in his protection,” my colleague David Graham, who has coated the Menendez expenses, informed me.
The Menendez imbroglio places the Democrats in a tough place. The get together has loved some ethical excessive floor as Donald Trump faces varied felony indictments. However having a member of their very own get together going through such galling corruption expenses—and saying in his personal protection that, primarily, the deep state is out to get him—could not solely undermine that prime floor, David stated. It might weaken Democrats’ case towards Trump’s personal statements about being the sufferer of deep-state machinations, and it might harm voters’ religion within the Democratic Social gathering.
This isn’t Menendez’s first time going through federal bribery expenses: In 2015, he was accused of receiving items and some $750,000 in marketing campaign donations from a Florida eye physician. These expenses resulted in a hung jury, and finally the decide declared a mistrial. Menendez was capable of preserve his seat via the turmoil, and he denied any wrongdoing. His colleagues, by and enormous, stood by him. However this time, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy referred to as on Menendez to resign nearly instantly after his indictment, and different state Democratic leaders quickly adopted. Cory Booker, the junior senator from New Jersey who has referred to as Menendez a mentor and pal, urged his colleague to step down a couple of days after the indictment. Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, in the meantime, has reportedly confronted Menendez within the halls of Congress (or, extra exactly, on an escalator) to inform him to resign. Greater than half of Senate Democrats have referred to as on Menendez to resign, although Senate Majority Chief Chuck Schumer has been extra reserved. “The Senator has made it clear that he’s harmless and won’t resign from his place because the senior U.S. Senator for New Jersey,” Robert Julien, a spokesperson for Mendendez’s workplace, informed me in an electronic mail.
A part of the rationale that a lot of Menendez’s colleagues are turning towards him this time, David defined, has to do with the relative severity of the fees. Bribery expenses are by no means an excellent look, however the expenses Menendez presently faces lower to the core of his committee work within the Senate, accusing him of utilizing his place as the top of the Senate International Relations Committee to work on behalf of a international energy.
The calculations are seemingly political too: The final time Menendez confronted bribery expenses, Republican Chris Christie was the governor of New Jersey. If Menendez had given up his seat, Christie might have appointed a Republican in his place. Now the state has a Democratic governor in Murphy, who would presumably appoint a Democrat to switch him, David defined. Even so, Democrats are anxious about introducing uncertainty once they have such a razor-thin majority over Republicans within the Senate. Democrats have develop into an increasing number of obsessed with beating their Republican opponents. That fixation on successful comes at a value, David stated: “In case you are so centered on beating Republicans that you just’re keen to look previous corruption allegations, you finally undermine your self, even for those who can win the subsequent election.”
However whether or not Menendez can truly win his subsequent election continues to be a serious query. He’s a savvy backroom fighter, David defined, which has helped him keep in energy within the cutthroat world of New Jersey politics. “There’s plenty of backstabbing in methods which can be completely authorized, however not essentially savory,” he stated. Menendez has held on via turbulence, however whether or not he could make it via this scandal intact might be, partially, as much as the courts. It would even be as much as voters.
Menendez’s trial is scheduled to start on Might 6, a couple of month earlier than the first race for his Senate seat. To this point, Menendez has made no public indication that he gained’t run for reelection. However his odds will not be trying promising. He’s being trounced in polls by Andrew Kim, a member of the Home of Representatives who introduced his marketing campaign for Menendez’s seat the day after the senator was indicted. Menendez is harmless till confirmed responsible, however his constituents may simply be prepared to maneuver on.
Associated:
Right now’s Information
- A 3rd former Trump-campaign lawyer, Jenna Ellis, pleaded responsible within the Georgia election-interference case.
- Israel escalated assaults on targets in Gaza, together with a refugee camp. The Hamas-run Gaza Well being Ministry stated that greater than 700 folks have been killed in a 24-hour interval.
- Home Majority Whip Tom Emmer has dropped out of the Speaker of the Home race, simply hours after turning into the nominee.
Night Learn
Britney Lastly Tells Her Story. It’s Darkish.
By Spencer Kornhaber
One of the disturbing elements of Britney Spears’s story has lengthy been the best way folks speak about her. As quickly because the pop star was launched from the authorized guardianship of her father in November 2021, ending a 13-year ordeal that she has described as torture, some onlookers requested whether or not some of the profitable ladies on Earth might deal with dwelling as an grownup. In barroom chitchat, meandering podcasts, and on-line remark sections, now you can discover folks claiming that liberating Britney—permitting her to, for instance, select how she spends her cash or what she eats for dinner—was a mistake. They cite alleged proof of erratic habits akin to the current video that the 41-year-old Spears posted of herself dancing sexily with prop knives.
Often such skeptics converse in a conspiratorial tone, indicating that they consider themselves as radical truth-tellers defying the pink-uniformed groupthink of the #FreeBritney motion. However Spears’s new memoir makes clear that this shaming and second-guessing, utilizing the language of care and concern, is deeply typical. She portrays herself—together with with the title The Girl in Me—as battling the media expectation that she stay trapped in girlhood, virginal and helpless.
Extra From The Atlantic
Tradition Break
Learn. A brand new ebook from Philippe Sands, The Final Colony, tells the story of the Chagossians, an island individuals who have been expelled from their houses by the British and Individuals.
Watch. The Pigeon Tunnel (streaming on Apple TV+) tries to seize the essence of John le Carré. It’s one in every of our critics’ 22 most enjoyable movies to observe this season.
Katherine Hu contributed to this text.
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