“On the Holmes Front” with Frank Holmes
The leaders of either political party would usually back away from any politician who faces well-corroborated charges that he’s guilty of bribery and influence-peddling, and is possibly being blackmailed by a foreign power. But as the news proves every day, these are not normal times.
The latest example of America’s political devolution, the Democrats have thrown their full weight behind a man accused of these crimes and more—and to make matters more incredible, he’s no longer even a member of the party.
The Democratic Party have gone all-in behind Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey, who led the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He and his wife, Nadine, have pled “not guilty” to three charges of taking bribe in exchange for convincing the Egyptian government to give a Christian businessman a monopoly over importing meat that followed the Islamic dietary code—not something that happens every day.
The FBI got its big break at a steakhouse.
FBI agent Terrie Williams-Thompson explained this week that she and another agent overheard Menendez’s then-girlfriend, Nadine Arslanian, ask, “What else can the love of my life do for you?” while having a dinner at Morton’s with Wael Hana and another, unnamed Egyptian national.
The power couple reportedly hoarded gold bars in their home, received exercise equipment and a sports car from that and other alleged sources, some of them tying the Menendez family to Egyptian intelligence.
The Middle East connection has led some to question whether the entire Menendez family is compromised—but not the most important leaders of the Democratic Party.
The senator’s son, Rob Menendez, is a Democratic congressman from New Jersey… and he just won a challenge from a serious candidate with the backing of the very highest Democratic authorities in the House of Representatives.
Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., not only gave the younger Menendez his support but helped save him from a strong primary challenge.
In fact, the entire Democratic House leadership threw its arms around the younger Menendez. In addition to Jeffries, he was endorsed by the next two most senior Hous Democrats: Minority Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass., and Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar, D-Calif.
As a matter of fact, all of these House Democratic leaders—and the chairman of power House committees—threw a (legal) fundraiser for Menendez in late May,where participants paid anywhere from $500 to $5,000 apiece to attend.
That went a long way to helping Bob Menendez’s boy keep his House seat out of the hands of his primary challenger, Hoboken Mayor Ravinder “Ravi” Bhalla.
“Rob Menendez, understanding the perilous situation he was in and unprecedent challenge posed by Mayor Bhalla, didn’t sleep in this election tapping into his allies to nearly Match Bhalla’s spending (Bhalla spent $1.6 million and Menendez $1.3 million,” wrote a political analyst familiar with the race.
But Rob Menendez, understanding the perilous situation he was in and unprecedent challenge posed by Mayor Bhalla, didn't sleep in this election tapping into his allies to nearly Match Bhalla's spending (Bhalla spent $1.6 million and Menendez $1.3 million
— Sage of Time🇵🇷 (@SageOfTime1) June 6, 2024
Menendez beat back challenger Bhalla by double-digit margin, winning a small majority of state voters: 53 percent of Democrats say his family’s history shouldn’t keep him from representing them in Washington.
Democrats’ defenders may say both parties have an interest in standing by its current office-holders, since incumbents win 95 percent of congressional races, according to OpenSecrets.org.
But the incumbent’s advantage is at its lowest point the first time he runs for re-election—like Rob Menendez, who only won his seat in 2022.
Yes, House leadership in the Democratic Party, the “party of diversity,” went out of its way to oppose a well-financed, more “progressive,” Indian-Amerian Sikh candidate in order to support the son of a corrupt pol accused of committing multiple felonies involving the selling of his poliical influence—and who was just elected to Congress.
To make matters wore, Senator Bob Menendez isn’t even a Democrat anymore—at least, not officially.
Menendez changed his party registration from Democrat to independent on Monday, as he announced he will run to keep his Senate seat for a fourth term.
Switching his party registration to independent lets Menendez spend the campaign funds he raised as a Democrat on the legal team defending him from the corruption—which he may have also committed as a Democrat.
The official Democratic Senate candidate is Andy Kim—but if Menendez pulls out a win, there’s no doubt the “independent” will caucus with the Democrats, like “independents” Bernie Sanders, Kyrsten Sinema, Angus King, and Joe Manchin.
With a one-vote majority, the Democrats can’t spare a single seat—even if it belongs to an accused felon.
Things are hardly different in the lower chamber of Congress. On paper, House Republicans outnumber Democrats by five seats, but due to an enormous number of retirements, the GOP has a functional one-seat majority.
If Democrats take the House in the near future, Jeffries would likely become the next Speaker of the House—and congressmen close to him, like Menendez from neighboring New Jersey, can expect to move up the ladder with him.
And if it turns out Rob Menendez is also on-the-take from firms connected to foreign intelligence agencies, he can use the campaign funds Democratic leaders helped raise for his own lawyers.
Whether it’s the liberal family is named Menendez, Clinton, or Biden, the Democratic Party has turned grift into a multigenerational employment opportunity.
Corruption is the Left’s official family business.