Bob Menendez, the Tony Soprano of the Senate?

Leaving the Democratic Party is becoming something of a trend in the Senate. Just days after Joe Manchin filed as an Independent, New Jersey senator Bob Menendez followed his lead last week. Cockburn, as well as Democratic sources, suspects the latter’s decision has less to do with ideological disillusionment and more to do with a shakedown worthy of Tony Soprano.

Menendez, along with his wife Nadine Arslanian and three New Jersey businessmen, was indicted last September on bribery charges. The years-long scheme allegedly benefited the Egyptian government in addition to lining the senator’s pockets. Cockburn uses the idiom literally here — almost half a million dollars was found stuffed in jackets at Menendez’s home. If Menendez can get his way, he could be about to add a few more bills to the collection. 

The plan hinges on Menendez running for reelection as in Independent in order to exhort money from Democrats who want him to resign. “It displeases me to have to go this route, thanks to overzealous prosecutors, but I will do what must be done to continue to uphold my oath of office for my constituents,” Menendez said. The senator added that his new party affiliation does not mean he is giving up his Democratic values. Nor, Cockburn assumes, his alleged steadfast commitment to enriching himself.

Democrats are worried that Menendez may use the reelection bid to pull off one last “bribe” and demand fundraising for legal expenses in exchange for dropping out of the race. Menendez’s ties to bribery officially began in the 2010s, when he accepted hundreds and thousands from a Florida ophthalmologist in exchange for political favors, including green cards for the doctor’s girlfriends. 

Menendez denies using his new party affiliation for another con. “My candidacy is not, and never was, about leveraging my fellow Democrats,” Menendez said. “I look forward to putting the rumors and speculation of my candidacy behind me and getting back to work for this great state.” 

Doing so might prove a challenge. Last Friday, the prosecution’s star witness testified against Menendez. New Jersey businessman Jose Uribe confessed to bribing Menendez with a new Mercedes for Arslanian to “kill” a federal insurance fraud investigation. According to Uribe, the two first met over Grand Marnier and cigars in the senator’s backyard. Like any good husband, Menendez had initially shifted the blame to his wife at the start of the trial, saying that she had secretly stashed gold bars and cash in a locked closet in their home where she kept her clothes. But Uribe’s account casts doubt that Arslanian “kept him in the dark.” The trial continues.