Sen. Menendez will resume his duties as ranking member of the Foreign Relations Committee

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Roll Call @rollcall 5m5 minutes ago
Sen. Robert Menendez will resume his duties as ranking member of the Foreign Relations Committee after being cleared in his federal corruption case.

Sen. Robert Menendez is set to resume his duties as the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, with the Senate Democratic caucus reaffirming his position now that he has been cleared of federal corruption charges.

According to multiple Democratic senators, the caucus acted during Tuesday's policy lunch.

“I am honored to resume my position as Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Now more than ever, it is critical that the United States remains fully engaged across the globe and that we project the principles of our democratic ideals as we confront the emerging threats and demands we face under the Trump Administration," Menendez said in a statement.

The government moved to drop remaining charges against Menendez last week, after the federal judge overseeing the case, U.S. District Judge William H. Walls, last week entered acquittals on seven of the 18 charges in the indictment against Menendez and his co-defendant, South Florida ophthalmologist Salomon Melgen.

That appeared to be a turning point for federal prosecutors, even though Walls left the rest of the government’s case intact. “Given the impact of the Court’s Jan. 24 Order on the charges and the evidence admissible in a retrial, the United States has determined that it will not retry the defendants on the remaining charges,” DOJ spokeswoman Nicole Navas Oxman said in a statement.

Walls declared a mistrial in November after individually interviewing members of the jury after it deadlocked. (reportedly 10-1 for acquittal)

read more: http://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/cleared-corruption-robert-menendez-regains-top-foreign-relations-post?utm_content=buffer0c795&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

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2. Wow.. I forgot about him.