Several left-wing activists and commentators took to social media to subject an identical message on Friday, equating the indictment of Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., on bribery prices to alleged ethics violations by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
The message, which recommend that both Menendez and Thomas ought to each step down from their roles or that Menendez ought to solely be pushed to resign if Thomas does, got here after it was alleged in a federal indictment that the New Jersey senator had accepted lots of of hundreds of {dollars} in bribes in trade for favors.
“Here’s the deal: Menendez resigns. Clarence Thomas resigns. One standard. Corruption is corruption,” Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin wrote in a post to X, previously generally known as Twitter.
Rubin’s message was echoed by a number of others, together with retired Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, who served as a witness throughout the first impeachment proceedings of former President Donald Trump.
MENENDEZ DEFIANT AS GROWING CHORUS OF DEMOCRATS CALL FOR HIS RESIGNATION
Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., was indicted Friday on bribery prices. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, proper, confronted backlash earlier this 12 months after it was reported he obtained items from Republican mega-donor Harlan Crow with out reporting them. (Eric Lee/Bloomberg, Al Drago/Bloomberg through Getty Images)
“Clarence Thomas resigns. Menendez resigns. One standard. Corruption is corruption,” Vindman wrote.
Several different accounts made posts with the identical language, drawing criticism from conservatives throughout social media.
Blasting what seemed to be coordinated “talking points,” conservative activist Melissa Tate responded to Vindman and mentioned, “Justice Clarence Thomas ain’t going nowhere sir.”
“Even the ‘Journalists’ gets their talking points from the regime,” Tate wrote in one other tweet that featured a screenshot of the identical language being utilized by totally different individuals.
The similarity between Menendez and Thomas that was drawn by Rubin, Vindman, and others comes after a ProPublica report earlier this 12 months revealed that Thomas had obtained items from Republican mega-donor Harlan Crow with out reporting them. His defenders, nonetheless, have argued that he has adopted the court docket’s reporting tips.
Several tales relating to Thomas and different Supreme Court justices have since adopted, resulting in left-wing assaults towards the excessive court docket. In March, the New York Times reported that guidelines have been modified to require justices and different federal judges to disclose extra actions, comparable to non-public jet journey and visits to business properties.
CRITICS SLAM LATEST PROPUBLICA ‘HIT PIECE’ ON JUSTICE CLARENCE THOMAS
Clarence Thomas, affiliate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, is photographed on the White House on Monday, Oct. 26, 2020. (Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg through Getty Images)
The Menendez indictment alleges that the senator and his spouse, from not less than 2018 by means of 2022 “engaged in a corrupt relationship” with three New Jersey businessmen.
“Today, I’m announcing that my office has obtained a three count indictment charging Senator Robert Menendez, his wife, Nadine Menendez, and three New Jersey businessmen, Wael Hana, Jose Uribe and Fred Daibes for bribery offenses,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams mentioned at a press convention on Friday morning.
According to the indictment, the couple accepted “hundreds of thousands of dollars of bribes in exchange for using Menendez’s power and influence as a senator to seek to protect and enrich Hana, Uribe, and Daibes and to benefit the Arab Republic of Egypt.”
The alleged bribes included gold, money, funds towards a mortgage, compensation for a low-or-no-show job, a luxurious automotive, and “other things of value.”
After an investigation started, Menendez disclosed that in 2020 his household accepted gold bars.
According to prosecutors, Menendez gave delicate U.S. authorities data to Hana, who’s an Egyptian-American businessman, who “secretly aided the Government of Egypt.”
Menendez allegedly pressured an official on the Department of Agriculture with the objective of defending a enterprise monopoly granted to Hana by the Egyptian authorities.
The alleged bribes to Menendez included gold, money, funds towards a mortgage, compensation for a low-or-no-show job, a luxurious automotive, and “other things of value.” (Getty Images/Department of Justice)
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In return, Hana allegedly kicked again income from the monopoly to Menendez, the indictment states.
FBI brokers discovered “approximately $500,000 of cash stuffed into envelopes in closets,” and jammed into the senator’s jacket pockets, whereas executing a search warrant at Menendez’s residence, Williams mentioned throughout the press convention.
Fox News’ Adam Sabes and Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report.
