Trump attorney Jesse Binnall and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Fahey told Newsmax on Monday that Democrats are turning on recently-indicted Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., because they want to retain the Senate seat going into next year's elections.
"To suggest that people are asking him to resign for altruistic reasons doesn't really hold a lot of water," Fahey said during an appearance on Newsmax's "The Chris Salcedo Show." "They want him to resign now so the Democratic governor can appoint a Democratic replacement that will be well-positioned for the election next year."
"The last thing they want is Menendez staying in office, getting renominated, and then that seat's vulnerable," he said. "So, this is all about one, harming Menendez, who's more in the moderate wing, but two is saving this seat, and this is the way to save this seat to keep it a Democratic seat. That's really what I think is behind this. It's really nothing more than just pure political cynicism."
Federal prosecutors allege that Menendez accepted gold bars and hundreds of thousands in cash in exchange for using his influence to aid the Egyptian government and interfere with law enforcement's investigations of three New Jersey businessmen.
On Monday, Menendez denied wrongdoing and vowed to stay in Congress, defying calls from elected officials, including the Democrat governor, in his home state of New Jersey to resign.
"I firmly believe that when all the facts are presented, not only will I be exonerated, but I still will be New Jersey's senior senator," Menendez reportedly said in his first public remarks since being charged.
Binnall said that the allegations against the New Jersey Democrat are "very serious."
"It's absolutely true that everyone in America is entitled to the presumption of innocence," he said. "Unfortunately, we live in an era where just because a prosecutor brings charges doesn't mean that we can rely on those prosecutors. However, when you are talking about taking money or gold bars for political favors, that's something that's right at the heart of why we have bribery statutes. While the Department of Justice has really perverted some of these laws in other cases, this goes to the very heart of how we should fight public corruption."
Commenting on Menendez reportedly hiring Abbe Lowell, the high-profile defense attorney also retained by Hunter Biden, Fahey said, "I think Abbe Lowell represented him before and did quite well for him."
"Clearly, if you look at it from the outside, the deal that he got for Hunter Biden – I was a federal prosecutor for 17 years and it was certainly better than anything I gave or anything that I even knew of giving to anyone," he said. "So, he's had quite a success record. I think it was honestly a smart choice. He's a well-regarded lawyer, and he's going to fight this thing. I know he's [Menendez] presumed innocent, but there are a lot of facts, at least at this point, that look pretty damning for him.
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Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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