U.S. prosecutors drop corruption case against Sen. Menendez

Submitted by Amanda Matthews on Wed, 01/31/2018 - 12:34pm

.U.S. prosecutors drop corruption case against Sen. Menendez

Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department has dropped corruption charges against Democratic Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey, according to a court filing on Wednesday, days after the trial judge threw out several counts.

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The Justice Department's decision to drop the case marks a major political victory not only for Menendez, but also for the Democratic party, which is hoping to regain control of the U.S. Senate in the upcoming midterm elections.

Last week U.S. District Judge William Walls threw out some of the bribery charges on the grounds that prosecutors had failed to show that about $660,000 in political contributions from Melgen to help benefit Menendez's 2012 reelection campaign were part of any bribery scheme.

The mere fact that some of the money arrived around the same time that Menendez took actions that could benefit Melgen was not enough to prove a "quid pro quo" arrangement, Walls said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-new-jersey-menendez/u-s-prosecutors-dr...

Oh well, then the ‘mere fact’ that someone is caught with a smoking gun while standing over a murder victim shouldn’t be that big a deal either.

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Menendez slides again

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Comments

Submitted by Tall Bald and Ugly on Wed, 01/31/2018 - 12:55pm

Well,

THAT judge has been bought, like so many others, sadly.
How much justice can you afford? If they jammed him, they'd have to start jammin' everybody.
And the system would collapse. Ergo, he walks.

Stop These Fucking Wars

peace.

—

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Explain Bldg #7. . . still waiting. . .

If you’ve ever wondered whether you would have complied in 1930’s Germany,
Now you know. . .
sign at protest march

Submitted by SnappleBC on Wed, 01/31/2018 - 12:58pm

Two thumbs up for this bit :)

Oh well, then the ‘mere fact’ that someone is caught with a smoking gun while standing over a murder victim shouldn’t be that big a deal either.

Clearly the only reasonable evidence of quid pro quo is if you have video tape of the person accepting a wad of cash in a dark alley and saying, "Thanks for all this money. Now that you've paid me I agree to vote as you want."

[video:https://youtu.be/5tu32CCA_Ig]

—

A lot of wanderers in the U.S. political desert recognize that all the duopoly has to offer is a choice of mirages. Come, let us trudge towards empty expanse of sand #1, littered with the bleached bones of Deaniacs and Hope and Changers.
-- lotlizard

Submitted by Amanda Matthews on Wed, 01/31/2018 - 2:15pm

A little blip about his partner in crime

@SnappleBC @SnappleBC

Melgen was convicted of 67 counts of health care fraud in April 2017 in what the Palm Beach Post called one of the biggest Medicare fraud cases in the U.S.

During that case, prosecutors argued that Melgen, who was born in the Dominican Republic, robbed Medicare of as much as $105 million, according to the newspaper.

Aside from Menendez, Melgen has given significant amounts of money to a variety of Democratic lawmakers, according to public records.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/01/31/menendez-corruption-and-bribe...

EDIT: Let me repeat a very important point:

Aside from Menendez, Melgen has given significant amounts of money to a variety of Democratic lawmakers, according to public records.

Stefin said Melgen could well afford to be philanthropic. He pocketed $170 million from Medicare, private insurers and patients over six years — money he spent on jets, jewelry, real estate and artwork or tied up in family trusts so it can’t be used to reimburse victims of his massive fraud, Stefin said.

One of the key issues Marra must decide in determining Melgen’s sentence is how much he cost Medicare and private insurers. Federal prosecutors say it was as much as $136 million. His attorneys claim it is about $64,000.

The wide disparity is because prosecutors claim his entire operation was a scam. His defense team contends that many of his patients benefited from the treatment so it was “medically necessary.”

Settling the disagreement is critical. Under federal sentencing guidelines, the greater the loss, the longer the sentence.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/crime--law/melgen-asks-for-leniency-ju...

Two crooked pieces of walking corruption, and as usual, the ‘well connected’ one skates.

—

I'm tired of this back-slapping "Isn't humanity neat?" bullshit. We're a virus with shoes, okay? That's all we are. - Bill Hicks

Politics is the entertainment branch of industry. - Frank Zappa

Submitted by Ellen North on Thu, 02/01/2018 - 10:04am

@SnappleBC

@SnappleBC @SnappleBC

Don't they still have to be actually twirling a mustache and cackling in a nefarious manner on that video-tape?

Edit: that seems to be the criteria applied in videos of police shootings of people caught Breathing While Black...

—

Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.

A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.

Submitted by k9disc on Wed, 01/31/2018 - 2:13pm

I Mean, He Was Wearing Gloves... What Were We Supposed to Do?

Oh well, then the ‘mere fact’ that someone is caught with a smoking gun while standing over a murder victim shouldn’t be that big a deal either.

It was cold out, he had gloves on, so we have no prints on the gun for proof. Nobody saw him actually pull the trigger. They just turned around and he was standing there, gun smoking in gloved hand.

What were we supposed to do? Speculate on things we can't know?

Another situation where corruption is normalized. This is the very reason that I suggest our political system is not corrupt; this shit is just business. It's how we do things in America.

It is not systemic corruption. Corruption is our system. It is the normal execution of power. Coincidental quid pro quo is ubiquitous in American politics. To suggest conspiracy or quid pro quo is to wear a tin foil hat. Try it by mentioning the Clinton Foundation. All that shit is how politics works.

Corruption is aberrant, it is never ubiquitous. As soon as corruption becomes ubiquitous, the corruption of the system is ethical action or belief. It is ethical action and belief that are aberrant and that threaten the system and hegemony. That is the shit that must be purged.

Ethical action and belief is the growth that is not of the body. Ethical behavior becomes the Other when corruption is ubiquitous. Take a look around, man. You can see it everywhere. Ethical action and belief are antiAmerican and the product of Russian meddling.

It's insane.

—

“Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” ~ Sun Tzu

Submitted by k9disc on Wed, 01/31/2018 - 2:30pm

Corruption Fatigue. We're Completely Surrounded!

The problem with the political corruption frame, outside of it's hackneyed nature and it's damage to government as an institution, is that it requires and creates cognitive dissonance as soon as you start talking about it.

The scale of corruption is so high, that the entire system is corrupt. There are no footholds or beachfronts to storm because the infection is so deep and thorough. Logical and ethical exceptions are required to stake out ground and fight to eliminate corruption.

The FBI DOJ FCC SEC EPA - Any one of them trustworthy and not corrupt? It requires a logical or ethical exception to trust them.

The NYT and WaPo - Can we really believe any thing they say? I mean, Chomsky relies on them for crying out loud. That is a logical and ethical exception that is required to make sense of this thoroughly corrupt system.

Making arguments with cognitively dissonance baked in is going to trigger all kinds of people and political beliefs. The fight will literally be all around us.

If we're fighting corruption, we're completely outnumbered and surrounded and we're doing rhetorical battle with arguments chock full of cognitive dissonance.

If we move to a business frame. Like it's just business.
Obamacare? Business.
Syria? Business.
Russia? Business.

Now we're pointing at the correct shit. Attacking business instead of attacking corruption requires zero cognitive dissonance.

When your favorite pol gets bought out by a big corporate sponsor, to suggest corruption is to harm my people. When you have business on the mind, the answer is made with your own brain,"Good guy or not, some boss bought him."

This also points the finger for the current system, not at people and personal failings and foibles, but at the predatory capitalists that are killing by the million and fouling the planet. It puts the onus on them and their religion.

The American political system is not corrupt. It's a business run endeavor: By the business, for the business, of the business.

If it harms you, no offense intended. It's just business, I hope you understand.
@k9disc

—

“Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” ~ Sun Tzu

Submitted by lizzyh7 on Wed, 01/31/2018 - 3:11pm

Yup, just bidness.

@k9disc And we apologize for any pesky inconvenience you may experience, please use our comment form as we really welcome your feedback! s/

The problem with the political corruption frame, outside of it's hackneyed nature and it's damage to government as an institution, is that it requires and creates cognitive dissonance as soon as you start talking about it. The scale of corruption is so high, that the entire system is corrupt. There are no footholds or beachfronts to storm because the infection is so deep and thorough. Logical and ethical exceptions are required to stake out ground and fight to eliminate corruption. The FBI DOJ FCC SEC EPA - Any one of them trustworthy and not corrupt? It requires a logical or ethical exception to trust them. The NYT and WaPo - Can we really believe any thing they say? I mean, Chomsky relies on them for crying out loud. That is a logical and ethical exception that is required to make sense of this thoroughly corrupt system. Making arguments with cognitively dissonance baked in is going to trigger all kinds of people and political beliefs. The fight will literally be all around us. If we're fighting corruption, we're completely outnumbered and surrounded and we're doing rhetorical battle with arguments chock full of cognitive dissonance. If we move to a business frame. Like it's just business. Obamacare? Business. Syria? Business. Russia? Business. Now we're pointing at the correct shit. Attacking business instead of attacking corruption requires zero cognitive dissonance. When your favorite pol gets bought out by a big corporate sponsor, to suggest corruption is to harm my people. When you have business on the mind, the answer is made with your own brain,"Good guy or not, some boss bought him." This also points the finger for the current system, not at people and personal failings and foibles, but at the predatory capitalists that are killing by the million and fouling the planet. It puts the onus on them and their religion. The American political system is not corrupt. It's a business run endeavor: By the business, for the business, of the business. If it harms you, no offense intended. It's just business, I hope you understand. #3

—

Only a fool lets someone else tell him who his enemy is. Assata Shakur

Submitted by Ellen North on Thu, 02/01/2018 - 10:01am

...Oh well, then the ‘mere

...Oh well, then the ‘mere fact’ that someone is caught with a smoking gun while standing over a murder victim shouldn’t be that big a deal either.

Only applies to The Right People. On the other hand, police battery is likely included for any vulnerable-looking Poors in the vicinity of any potential crime, especially if they happen to have skin dark enough not to show bruises so well, so there's something in there for everyone!

—

Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.

A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.