Eighteen counts of bribery have scared many Democrats away from Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., but they didn’t scare away Hillary Clinton. The failed presidential candidate is coming to New Jersey to campaign for the ethically challenged and politically beleaguered incumbent senator.
“I am honored to ask you to join me for a Women for Menendez Evening Reception with special guest Hillary Rodham Clinton in support of my re-election campaign!” Menendez wrote to his supporters in an email. “This exciting event will take place on Monday, October 15th at 6:00 PM in Jersey City, NJ.”
The exciting event will also be really, really expensive. A plate ranges from $500 to $5,400, which is alarming until you remember that Menendez has expensive tastes. The senator was credibly accused of running an immigration racket. He provided visas for several of the girlfriends of convicted fraudster Salomon Melgen, and that wealthy ophthalmologist in turn provided him with flights on a private jet, nights in Paris, and rounds of golf at private clubs. If it wasn’t for a mistrial, Menendez would likely be behind bars.
The decadence was excessive even by congressional standards. “The fact that your criminal trial did not result in a conviction,” the Senate Ethics Committee wrote in an admonishing letter, “neither enforces nor supplants the Senate’s rules or standards of conduct.”
That admonition underscores the ugly perfection of the Clinton-Menendez fundraiser. Here are two people who really just don’t care. He granted special favors for a philandering friend. She granted so many special favors to so many donating friends that whole books have been written about it. There was Travelgate, and there was Filegate. There was the Benghazi cover-up, and there were Clinton Foundation payoffs. She was, leaving Trump out for the sake of simplicity of argument, perhaps the most ethically challenged of all politicians. Now, both are together.
It is a smart move for a politician like Menendez, who clearly doesn’t care about things like ethics. His numbers are down in New Jersey, and she won New Jersey during the general election. Maybe Clinton can help Menendez turn his campaign around, or maybe Republican challenger Bob Hugin will get to repurpose a winning line: Lock them up.
