John Fund: Democrats embrace sleazy Sen. Menendez, despite Ethics Committee saying he discredited Senate

Three-quarters of Senate Democrats asked Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., to resign last December after six women accused him of forcibly kissing or groping them over a decade earlier – before he joined the Senate. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Franken had to go due to “a higher obligation to his constituents and the Senate.” Under pressure, Franken resigned.

Fast forward to late last week. The bipartisan Senate Ethics Committee unanimously issued a brutal finding that New Jersey Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez had brought “discredit upon the Senate.” It found he had done political favors “well beyond Senate norms” for a corrupt friend in exchange for expensive gifts and vacations.

But even though the committee found Menendez had violated federal law over a six-year period by not reporting the gifts, the only sanction he was given was an order to repay the fair market value of the gifts and update his financial disclosure forms.

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