As everyone is well aware of by now, the DOJ is bringing corruption charges against Sen. Menendez. Recently he’s been knocking the Obama admin pretty hard.
Like:
Being a top critic of Obama’s Iran deal.
Via Weekly Standard:
Menendez has been one of the top Democratic critics in Congress of the Obama administration’s negotiations and forthcoming deal with Iran over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear ambitions. Earlier this year, the New Jersey Democrat said the White House’s talking points on the Iran deal were “straight out of Tehran.”
Saying the Cuba trade deal will reward “brutal behavior”
Via The Hill:
Sen. Robert Menendez (N.J.), the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is slamming President Obama over the deal to release an American held in Cuba.
“President Obama’s actions have vindicated the brutal behavior of the Cuban government,” Menendez, known for his tough stance on Cuba, said in a statement.
“There is no equivalence between an international aid worker and convicted spies who were found guilty of conspiracy to commit espionage against our nation.”
American aid worker Alan Gross, who was held in Cuba for five years for trying to set up Internet for a small Jewish community, was released on Wednesday as the U.S. released three Cuban agents convicted of spying.
Menendez said the move “sets an extremely dangerous precedent.”
He’s considered the White House’s least favorite Dem.
Via WPTV:
WASHINGTON (CNN) —Sen. Robert Menendez might be a senior Democrat but he’s no friend of the White House.
In fact, he’s emerged as one of the most troublesome obstacles to President Barack Obama’s legacy-building effort to end decades of U.S. estrangement with Cuba and Iran. He’s also poked the administration on its troubled relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with whom he shares a hawkish outlook towards Tehran.
But the senior senator from New Jersey, 61, is now in the news for a different reason, after CNN first reported Friday that the Justice Department is preparing to bring criminal charges against him.
Perhaps the last straw was Menendez’s AIPAC speech this past week:
Senior Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) blasted the Obama administration’s Iran policy while delivering a speech at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) national conference.
The AIPAC crowd cheered when Menendez, the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, vowed to stand up for Israel even when he faces opposition from “political friends.”
“When it comes to defending the U.S.-Israel relationship, I am not intimidated by anyone–not Israel’s political enemies, and not by my political friends when I believe they’re wrong,” declared Sen. Menendez before an enthusiastic AIPAC crowd.
“As long as I have an ounce of fight left in me, as long as I have a vote and a say and a chance to protect the interest of Israel, the region, and the national security interests of the United States–Iran will never have a pathway to a weapon,” he later added. “It will never threaten Israel or its neighbors, and it will never be in a position to start a nuclear arms race in the Middle East. Not on my watch.”
H/T Drudge