The Democrats have made a huge mistake. They’re risking American national security.
Because a U.S. Senator accused of being a foreign agent has infiltrated a top-secret security briefing.
Despite being charged with bribery and serving as a foreign agent, Democratic Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey allegedly attended a confidential briefing regarding Ukraine on Thursday.
In October, Menendez faced charges of collecting bribes from Qatar and operating as an Egyptian foreign agent in return for expensive gifts. In January, he was slapped with further claims of accepting bribes. According to CNN reporter Manu Raju, Menendez received a confidential briefing on Ukraine on Thursday following his attendance at a similar briefing in November. He remained a sitting U.S. senator despite stepping down as chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in September.
Senator Bob Menendez, who has been indicted for serving as an agent of a foreign government, just walked into a classified briefing with Antony Blinken per CNN.
Last time he attended a classified briefing, on Nov 1, @mkraju confronted him and here’s what Menendez said: pic.twitter.com/chLNEDHZNL
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) January 18, 2024
Menendez allegedly instructed reporters to “look to my past answers” when asked about his presence at the briefing, as reported by Raju. Antony Blinken, secretary of state, supposedly, was also present during the briefing.
Democrat senator from Pennsylvania John Fetterman told Fox News’ Chad Pergram, “I don’t know why anybody would take a meeting with that sleaze ball” on Thursday. Due to his alleged misconduct, Fetterman has repeatedly demanded that Menendez step down from his position. “He needs to go, we should have chucked him. I don’t know why we haven’t chucked him. And I sure hope eventually we do chuck him.”
Sen. John Fetterman on Bob Menendez attending a classified briefing with Secretary of State Antony Blinken:
"I don't know why anybody would take a meeting with that sleazeball..he needs to go…We should have chucked him. I don't know why we haven't chucked him. And I sure hope… pic.twitter.com/gByv9wfH5y
— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) January 18, 2024
Claiming the accusations against him are a “sensational narrative” concocted by the United States government, Menendez has pleaded not guilty and insists he is innocent. Meanwhile, Menendez asserts that prosecutors lack “no proof of receiving any such gift” to support their allegations that he promoted Qatar in return for gifts.
In November, reporters questioned Menendez about his participation in a separate classified briefing about Ukraine. Menendez informed them that he was entitled to attend the briefing due to his position as a senator and the security credentials assigned to him. Furthermore, he insisted that he had freely decided not to attend further secret briefings and rejected the idea that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer had barred him from doing so.
The senator from New Jersey told Raju in November that an accusation is simply that — an accusation and that he had the necessary security credentials, as well as the fact that he is a United States senator.
Politico reports that Fetterman reportedly filed a resolution in November to bar Menendez from attending secret briefings. In December, Fetterman expressed his belief to the presenters of The View that Congress’ decision to eject former Republican New York Rep. George Santos for his alleged crimes, but not Menendez, was hypocritical.
“How can you allow Menendez to remain in the Senate if you are going to expel Santos?” Fetterman asserted on The View. “So I really think he needs to go, and especially, it’s kind of strange that if Santos is not allowed to remain in the House, someone like that.”
Multiple members of Menendez’s own party are running against him for the Senate seat in New Jersey, and he is polling in the single digits.
Democrats are usually quick to provide cover for each other, especially in the U.S. Senate where the stakes are extremely high.
So Democrats staying silent about Bob Menendez and other Democrats even speaking out against the senator really speaks volumes about what type of a person he must be.
The bad press for the Democrats centered on the accusations lobbed against Bob Menendez come at a time when the Democrats are going to have a tough road to hold on to control of the U.S. Senate come November.
The Democrats are defending more than double the seats that Republicans are defending, making it all the more likely that the Republicans will take back the upper chamber of Congress.
Choosing not to defend Menendez, as many Democrats know they can’t do right now, risks giving up yet another seat and potentially handing a surging Donald Trump a strongly Republican legislative branch.
The Democrats’ time in the sun in recent years is seemingly coming to a swift end according to all the major indicators. Good riddance.
Stay tuned to the DC Daily Journal.
