Democrats urge Sen. Menendez to resign, but Republicans stand by Trump, Justice Thomas despite their scandals

It’s the latest example of a stark difference between political parties in this country.

New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez, a Democrat, was indicted along with his wife Nadine Arslanian and three New Jersey businessmen on Friday. The allegations are the veteran senator accepted over $600,000 in bribes from the businessmen on behalf of interests in Egypt.

The FBI discovered almost $500,000 in cash and more than $100,000 in gold bars at the senator’s home last year. Court documents said he also accepted a luxury car.

Menendez (seen above in a federal government image) did step down as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, but he has mounted a defense, claiming the money at his home was just cash he had lying around. After all, who doesn’t keep $600,000 on hand at all times.

“This may seem old fashioned, but these were monies drawn from my personal savings account based on the income that I have lawfully derived over those 30 years,” he said.

Menendez didn’t mention the gold bars, nor did he explain why the approximately 10 envelopes with tens of thousands of dollars in cash in them had the fingerprints of one of the other defendants in the case on them. It’s almost laughable, but this is a very serious offense.

On Tuesday, Sen. Cory Booker, like Menendez a New Jersey Democrat, said it was time for his friend and colleague to go. Booker stood by Menendez during a previous criminal inquiry almost a decade ago, but not this time.

“Stepping down is not an admission of guilt but an acknowledgment that holding public office often demands tremendous sacrifices at great personal cost,” Booker said in a statement. “Senator Menendez has made these sacrifices in the past to serve. And in this case he must do so again. I believe stepping down is best for those Senator Menendez has spent his life serving.”

Sen. Bob Casey, a Pennsylvania Democrat, also urged Menendez to resign.

“While he is entitled to the presumption of innocence, serving in public office is a privilege that demands a higher standard of conduct,” Casey said in a statement on Tuesday.

Last week, his colleague Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania said Menendez should resign. Fetterman, who is being attacked by Republicans for not wearing a suit and tie on the Senate floor, is focused on a real issue.

He said Menendez is “entitled to the presumption of innocence under our system, but he is not entitled to continue to wield influence over national policy, especially given the serious and specific nature of the allegations.”

Fetterman also announced he would return a $5,000 donation that Menendez made to his campaign last year, and in a typically wry move, said he would do so by stuffing hundred-dollar bills into envelopes. 

Democratic Sens. Jon Tester of Montana, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Jacky Rosen of Nevada and Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin also said Menendez needs to leave the Senate.

No Republican senator has added their voice to the chorus, but Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican, said last weekend that the New Jersey senator should quit.

Now contrast that with what happened to Donald Trump, who has been indicted four times and faces 91 felony charges. His legal and ethical problems go back decades, and on Tuesday, a New York judge ruled that Trump and his company deceived banks, insurers and others by massively overvaluing his assets and exaggerating his net worth on paperwork to obtain loans. To be blunt, he lied, over and over again.

And yet he remains the most popular Republican in the country, with a commanding lead in polls for the GOP 2024 presidential nomination. His mob supports him no matter what he does, and would so so if he lands in prison.

It’s not just the Trump crazies. Republican candidates for president, Senate, and other offices are standing by him and attacking prosecutors for having the audacity of trying to bring him to justice.

Why? Because they think he’s innocent?

Of course not. They know who Trump is and are aware of his nefarious record. It’s all politics all the time with most Republicans.

They fear Trump‘s base — that’s surely an accurate term for them — and don’t want them coming after them in primaries or at their homes or offices. The Trump mob attacks in every sense.

So, they ignore his criminal acts and pretend the prosecutors who are carefully compiling evidence against him are out of control, highly partisan and dedicated to serving President Joe Biden and the Democratic Party.

Not that there’s much evidence of that, but it’s what they are going with. It’s a betrayal of their duty and a blatant dismissal of facts.

Speaking of evidence, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is another high-ranking official who has shown a disdain for ethics and rules.

Thomas, we have learned in recent months, has hung around with billionaires and accepted 38 vacation trips and luxurious gifts from them for years. He also failed to report them on disclosure reports.

It’s extremely unethical for a justice to do such things, but Thomas has resisted all calls for him to resign, or even recuse himself from cases involving his rich buddies.

His wife Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, sent at least 29 texts to then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows urging him to do whatever was needed to keep Trump in office after his resounding defeat.

“Do not concede,” she wrote. “It takes time for the army who is gathering for his back.”

She also sent emails to at least 29 Arizona lawmakers asking them to prevent the state from casting its electoral votes for Biden, even though he had clearly won the state. Ginni Thomas also was sending emails to conservative attorney John Eastman, asking him to find a path to a second term for Trump despite the election loss.

Last year, she told the January 6 committee she regrets those messages. Sure, once they were made public.

During his time on the bench, Justice Thomas has mostly been silent. He once went more than a decade without asking a single question during court sessions, which he finally explained by saying it was the result of childhood stigma from mockery over the backcountry dialect he learned to speak. 

In reality, it might be because he had already made up his mind, and he could rely on other conservative justices to make points for their team. Once the pandemic struck and conferences were held on the phone, Thomas suddenly became very talkative.

Maybe he should explain his many ethical lapses. His association with the rich and powerful speaks loudly.

Robert Reich, who served as Labor secretary under President Bill Clinton and was a member of the Ford and Carter administrations, offered a sharp and insightful comment on X, the former Twitter.

“Call me a radical Lefty, but I don’t think an entry-level federal employee should be subject to more stringent ethics rules than Clarence Thomas,” Reich said.

Some Democratic officials and progressive groups are demanding the justice depart. Rep. Ted Lieu of California said Thomas “has brought shame upon himself and the United States Supreme Court” and should resign “immediately.” 

Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington called his actions “disgusting.”

No Republican has expressed any concern. To them, hanging out with the wealthy people who pay for their campaigns and tell them how to vote and speak is par for their exclusive, private golf courses.

They look the other way at Trump’s crimes, no matter how outrageous or dangerous, and ignore Thomas’ unethical behavior.

When people say they can’t tell the difference between the two parties, roll your eyes and ask them if they can differ between honey and hot garbage. There is a distinct taste and smell to both, just as there is to the foul deeds of Sen. Menendez, former President Trump and Justice Thomas.

Tom Lawrence has written for several newspapers and websites in South Dakota and other states and contributed to The New York Times, NPR, The  Telegraph, The Daily Beast and other media outlets.