Eric Eggers, vice president of the Government Accountability Institute, joined Riley Lewis on OAN’s The Real Story to weigh in on the Bob Menendez corruption scandal and what it says about Congress at large.
Eggers noted that Nadine Menendez’s sentencing shows the law can still reach the families of powerful figures. But he faulted both the Senate and New Jersey voters for allowing Bob Menendez to remain in office despite years of controversy.
“The really galling thing is that two other entities should also feel shame beyond Nadine: first, the citizens of New Jersey, because they reelected him in 2018 even after his indictment; second, the United States Senate, which allowed him to resume his chairmanship after charges were dismissed. This is someone who has been playing with fire, and it’s a tragedy that he and his wife were ultimately burned,” Eggers said.
Asked why foreign officials might have sought out Menendez, Eggers pointed to the senator’s reputation as “open for business.” The choice, he suggested, was no accident.
“I think people did business with the Menendezes because Bob Menendez clearly seemed open for business from early in his Senate career,” Eggers said. “He was alleged to have engaged in questionable behavior in the Dominican Republic and was indicted in 2015. When you’re ‘open for business’ like that, the business tends to find you.”
From there, Eggers broadened his critique. Too often, he argued, Congress exempts itself from rules that ordinary Americans must follow, creating a culture of double standards and impunity among political elites.
“Unfortunately, it says that some members of the United States Senate and Congress believe they can get away with it — because for a long time, they have.”
His conclusion was simple but pointed: scandals like Menendez’s are symptoms of a deeper problem — one that begins with Congress itself.
Watch the clip above.
