Iran Hawks See a Possible Conspiracy in Menendez Corruption Leak

[Purveyor]

Source: Bloomberg

Mar 9, 2015 10:53 AM EDT

BEDFORD, N.H.–A Democratic senator is hit with corruption charges. A Republican governor stands ready to replace the senator if he resigns. On paper, it's easy to imagine the troubles of New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez setting up a partisan power struggle.

That's not how the Menendez story is playing out. On Friday afternoon, after CNN broke the news that the Department of Justice was preparing a case against Menendez, conservatives openly asked if this had anything to do with the debate over Iran. Menendez, the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was wrangling Democrats for a sanctions bill that the White House had threatened to veto.

Just days before the leak, Menendez was onstage at the AIPAC conference, winning ovation after ovation. "I am not intimidated by anyone," said Menendez. Now, to many conservatives, it seemed as though someone was trying to intimidate him. Bret Stephens, the Pulitzer-winning Wall Street Journal columnist, reacted quickly and succinctly.

In conservative media, plenty of pundits have repeated that sentiment. How convenient was it that the key Democrat challenging the administration on Iran, a tough legislator in the final stages of getting votes for his bill, was hit with credibility-sinking charges. The question answered itself. The Obama administration, wrote Lee Smith in Tablet, "took a page from Michael Corleone’s handbook." In Iowa this past weekend, Texas Senator Ted Cruz openly speculated about a DOJ hit on Menendez.

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-03-09/iran-hawks-see-a-possible-conspiracy-in-menendez-corruption-leak

[Comrade Grumpy]

1. Pathetic. The warmongers has a sad.

[karynnj]

2. How quickly they forget that these charges were first made by Republicans in his 2012 reelection

I bet they are sorry now that they ran with the sensational, but untrue, DR prostitute scandal. I guess they forget that that involved this same person giving him free trips etc in return for legislation.

The Republicans might have a better case if there were a Democratic governor of NJ -- but that can't happen until 2017.

[JDPriestly]

3. Right. One thing about conspiracy theories. They usually aren't true when they make no

sense. This one makes no sense whatsoever. Why would the Justice Department in a Democratic administration threaten to indict a Democratic member of Congress if that Democrat will almost certainly be replaced by a Republican member appointed by a Republican governor.

Somebody needs to get a life.

[groundloop]

4. PLUS, the DOJ seems very reluctant to prosecute unless conviction is a near certainty

The ONLY way this story makes any sense is if DOJ has a hell of a lot of information pointing towards Menendez' guilt.