<div>Popular opinion says that it&#8217;s no coincidence Senator Menendez was brought up on charges immediately after disagreeing with the Obama White House on one issue- especially since the corruption charges are about something that happened years ago. Many insiders believe that Obama and his cronies were prepared to let a little thing like accepting bribes slide, so long as Menendez fell in line with Obama&#8217;s policies. When Menendez dissented, Obama sicced his minions on the New Jersey senator. </div>
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<div>Menendez&#8217;s apparently fatal mistake was siding with Israel by showing respect to Netanyhu and claiming that we should partner with Israel and reject terrorist organizations. He also criticized the president for seeking to create an open and equal relationship with communist Cuba. The accusation against him is that he accepted gifts and cash &#8220;donations&#8221; from a friend in exchange for using his political clout to to further the business interests of said friend. This amounts to accepting a bribe and is considered a serious form of corruption. </div>
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<div>Although the motivations for bringing up these charges were entirely political and intended to punish Menendez not for his corruption, but for disagreeing with the president, that does not mean that the charges are invalid. Menendez broke the law, or so it seems pending the investigation. Robert Kelly, Senator Menendez&#8217;s administrative director, refused to answer a grand jury&#8217;s questions regarding how often and why Menendez traveled on a private jet belonging to a donor who&#8217;s business interests he looked out for politically. Kelly invoked his attorney work-product privilege to avoid answering the questions, which is generally a good sign that there is something they&#8217;re hiding. </div>
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