The probe into Senator Robert Menendez will proceed, said the Senate Ethics Committee on Thursday, after his trial on counts of bribery and corruption ended in a mistrial.
“In 2012, the committee initiated a preliminary inquiry into alleged misconduct by Senator Robert Menendez. In early 2013, consistent with its precedent and in consideration of the Department of Justice’s criminal investigation, the committee deferred its inquiry. At this time, the committee intends to resume its process,” the committee said.
The chairman, vice chairman and several other members of the committee said no additional statements about the probe would be made, “except in accordance with committee rules,” in response to Mitch McConnell’s public demand that the panel investigates Menendez.
“His trial shed light on serious accusations of violating the public’s trust as an elected official, as well as potential violations of the Senate’s Code of Conduct,” McConnell said.
After days of deliberation, jurors in Menendez’s trial were unable to reach a unanimous decision, resulting in the judge William Walls declaring a mistrial – a big legal victory for the New Jersey Democrat. Menendez’s chief of staff is confident the Senate panel probe will “come to no different conclusion than this jury did” and added that there was no point in continuing with it any further. The Ethics Committee can use the evidence unveiled in Menendez’s trial, while the Department of Justice can also seek a retrial, even though that is unlikely to happen.
“The charges were not proven. Therefore, he should be able to come back and carry on,” said Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein, who doesn’t believe the Justice Department will begin another trial.
Senator Patrick Leahy likewise expressed his confidence that any further trials will be forgone.
“I prosecuted an awful lot of cases, and from what I’ve seen, it did not look like they had a strong case. In my experience, prosecutors don’t retry it,” he said.
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