Sen. Bob Menendez cannot escape federal prosecution on grounds that he has legislative immunity from four conspiracy charges alleging that he accepted bribes including cash and gold bars in exchange for delivering favors to three New Jersey businessmen, a judge ruled Thursday.
U.S. District Judge Sidney H. Stein in Manhattan said in a written ruling that charges alleging the New Jersey Democrat accepted bribes from three businessmen in return for legislative favors cannot be dropped on grounds that members of Congress get extra protection from some laws for what they do in the legislative sphere.
He said criminal intent cannot be protected by wording in the Constitution meant to protect information sharing by legislators.
What is it with people and immunity claims these days? That’s such a poor legal defense.
The judge is 78 years old, who knows what dumb shit they’d agree to.
That’s how legal defenses work when you can afford lawyers, you try everything possible and see if it sticks.
Even if it doesn’t, maybe something is handled wrong and even tho it shouldn’t of worked and wasn’t going to, you get a mistrial.
The legal system is different when money isn’t a factor
It really, really shouldn’t be, but it’s crazy how so many fail to realize that it really is different with money.
Not just the legal system, taxes as well.
Any complicated system like that is going to be better for the wealthiest because they can pay experts to go thru it.
An average American would get a public defender or just take the standard deduction on taxes.
It’s more than that- money buys you time. Think of all the services you have to engage with on a daily basis, then realize that if you have enough money, you can pay other people to do those things for you. Groceries? Have someone else get them for you. Clothes? Pay a tailor to fit you. Waiting at the airport? Not if you have a private jet. Break the law? Good luck getting convicted, and even if you do you can still live the big life while you grind away at the years-long appeals process.
Poor people don’t stay up all night shit posting on Twitter because they have to go to work the next day. Rich people do rails of ketamine with Joe Rogan then spend all day spreading lies about cannibals from Haiti coming to the US on the social network they overpaid for while desperately seeking the approval and adulation of the population of goddamned morons who believe Fox News.
money changes everything.
If you’re clearly guilty, what other choice have you got?
Who does he think bribery laws bind if not legislators?
The poors, ducky, the poors
What a dirtbag.
I always think people like Santos and Menendez getting in trouble for bribery and fraud is hilarious.
Political PACs make political bribery perfectly legal and the US hates when boring, honest people run for office, they never get anywhere, we demand bullshitters that tell us we’re pretty.
Do it to be sure, but why stop at single digit Congress people? There’s like 10 between both chambers that aren’t on the take.
