New York Times Calls for NJ Sen. Robert Menendez to ‘Step Down’

As the allegations and explanations of the charges of corruption against New Jersey’s Democrat Senator Robert Menendez come to light, some are calling on him to resign, including the “paper of record,” The New York Times.

The Times editorial details just a few of the charges of corruption being brought against the senator, and some are shocking to say the least.

In one case, Menendez allegedly pressured Medicare to excuse charges of fraud leveled against Dr. Salomon Melgen, one of the senator’s big-dollar donors. The fraud reportedly amounts to some $9 million in waste.

In August of 2012, Menendez seems to have personally taken the case for excusing his donor’s Medicare fraud by having a meeting directly with then-Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius herself. Two months later, Dr. Melgen donated $300,000 to a PAC working to re-elect the senator, the Times reports.

For the same donor, Menendez apparently engineered entry visas for some of the Dominican-born moneyman’s female “friends.” In at least one case, Menendez personally intervened with immigration officials to allow one of the women to visit the U.S.

For this and other examples of corruption, the Times ultimately called for the senator to resign. “He would be doing a disservice to New Jersey by clinging to power as a disgraced politician,” the Times editorial board wrote. “His colleagues in the Senate should demand that he step aside.”

Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com.