The Robert Menendez Corruption Charges Undermine the Supreme Court

http://time.com/3769023/citizens-united-robert-menendez/

In his 2010 State of the Union, President Obama famously criticized the Supreme Court’s logic on a campaign finance decision even as several justices sat in the audience.

Now, prosecutors at the U.S. Justice Department have found an even better way to make the case.

In their indictment of New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez, prosecutors have called foul on one of the central arguments for the court’s interpretation of campaign finance law in the Citizens United decision.

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The indictment of Menendez, however, reveals in great detail the extent to which “independent” groups like Majority PAC have found ways to operate in close coordination with the candidate. And if Menendez is convicted, the case will prove that corruption can still be facilitated through these outside groups.

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see also:

Robert Menendez Indictment Points to Corrupting Potential of Super PACs

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/03/us/politics/robert-menendez-indictment-points-to-corrupting-potential-of-super-pacs.html?partner=socialflow&smid=tw-nytimes&_r=0

WASHINGTON — It seemed like a typical corruption case: A Florida doctor, seeking official favors with a United States senator, plies him with gifts while raising all the money he can for the senator’s campaign, and for his fellow senators and his party.

But the searing 68-page indictment of Senator Robert Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, filed this week by the Justice Department, does more than pull back the curtain on a politically and personally lucrative relationship between the senator and the doctor, Salomon E. Melgen. It also marks the first significant criminal case stemming from the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, which opened up new channels for the wealthy to pour money into campaigns, and vastly amplified the corrupting potential of otherwise legal campaign contributions.

Central to the Menendez case is the elaborate infrastructure of technically independent “super PACs” and outside groups that — for practical if not legal purposes — are closely bound to each party’s congressional leadership and are nurtured by lobbyists, wealthy donors, and other special interests seeking to influence the government.

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