But if the alleged facts in the indictment prove true, the big question is: Why would any politician think he could get away with something so brazen? Perhaps because Menendez knows that to secure a conviction, prosecutors will have to prove that it was illegal for him to accept the gifts in exchange for a “performance of an official act,” as the indictment says. And like every American politician, Menendez almost certainly knows that while that may seem straightforward, the corruption-plagued Supreme Court has deliberately made it anything but.
“Our concern is not with tawdry tales of Ferraris, Rolexes, and ball gowns,” wrote Chief Justice John Roberts at the time. “It is instead with the broader legal implications of the government’s boundless interpretation of the federal bribery statute… Setting up a meeting, calling another public official, or hosting an event does not, standing alone, qualify as an ‘official act.’”
The problem is that Supreme Court justices have for years been legalizing — and personally engaging in — similar kinds of corruption. At the same time, top Democrats are constantly assuring justices that no matter how repugnant their behavior, there will be no serious challenge to their power.
A bribe has to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt to be in exchange for “performance of an official act.” In essence, that cannot be proven unless the briber or bribee is an idiot and leaves tangible evidence for prosecutors to argue criminal intent. Menendez describes his situation where he as a victim of a “smear campaign” by those who “simply cannot accept that a first-generation Latino American from humble beginnings could rise to be a U.S. Senator and serve with honor and distinction.”
With the ‘official act’ shield, the odds of convicting Menendez seem to be low.
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The Guardian reports some commentary on the MSM:
US news organizations have turned Biden’s age into a scandal and continue to cover Trump as an entertaining side show
Christiane Amanpour has reported all over the world, so she recognizes a democracy on the brink when she sees one.
Last week, as she celebrated her 40 years at CNN, she issued a challenge to her fellow journalists in the US by describing how she would cover US politics as a foreign correspondent.“We have to be truthful, not neutral,” she urged. “I would make sure that you don’t just give a platform … to those who want to crash down the constitution and democracy.”
It’s an important call to action. But so far, the American press is failing to meet its responsibility to adequately emphasize the stakes of the coming election.
That speaks for itself.
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The radical right teaching children traditional family values
Look closely, you'll see the traditional
family value being expressed
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