George Santos defends Democrat accused of corruption while Tammy Baldwin demands resignation

Out lesbian Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) is calling for Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) to resign after he was indicted in connection to an alleged bribery scheme. Meanwhile — and paradoxically — the only out Republican LGBTQ+ person in Congress, Rep. George Santos (R-NY), is standing behind the New Jersey Democrat.

“While he deserves a fair trial like every other American, I believe Senator Menendez should resign for the sake of the public’s faith in the U.S. Senate,” Baldwin said, calling the charges “deeply troubling.”

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Menendez broke “the American people’s trust and compromise[d] his ability to effectively represent his constituents,” Baldwin added.

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“While Senator Menendez enjoys the presumption of innocence until proven guilty and will have his day in court to defend himself, I believe it’s best for his constituents, the American people, and our national security for the Senator to step down,” she said.

Menendez is accused of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in gifts from a meat company in New Jersey. The gifts from the company, IS EG Halal, included a Mercedez-Benz car, furniture, and mortgage payments. Federal investigators also found hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and gold bars in Menendez’s home in a June 2022 search.

Prosecutors believe that Menendez used his position as chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to help IS EG Halal get an exclusive contract with Egypt to certify its exports. Investigators believe that Menendez used the U.S.’s aid and arms deals with Egypt to apply pressure.

Menendez denies all wrongdoing.

While one would think all Congressional Republicans would be lining up to attack Menendez, he’s getting support from Santos, who said that Menendez should not resign.

“I think due process is important and I think he has a right to defend himself,” Santos told MSNBC. “He’s innocent until proven guilty. The media has to stop acting like everybody is guilty before they’re even judged by a jury. So, no, I think everybody is innocent until proven guilty. When did we walk away from the fabric of our Constitution that everybody has a presumption of innocence before anything else? So, I don’t think he should resign.”

Santos himself is facing federal prosecution in New York related to several alleged schemes to enrich himself at the government’s and campaign donors’ expense. The charges facing Santos include seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, two counts of making materially false statements to the House of Representatives, and one count of theft of public funds. Prosecutors allege that he illegally used campaign funds to buy designer clothes and other personal items. He has tried to fundraise off of these criminal charges.

Menendez is up for reelection next year and has said that he intends to run for office again. If he resigns before the election, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) would appoint a replacement, so the partisan composition of the Senate wouldn’t change.

Baldwin is the fourth Democrat to call for Menendez’s resignation so far.  Sens. Sherrod Brown (OH), John Fetterman (PA), and Peter Welch (VT)  have all called for his resignation as well.