Two recent court cases show that politicians have difficulty coping with fear. Voters may think these two cases show poor financial decisions by the politicians. Or it might be political corruption.
Last year, New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez, a Democrat, was charged in what The New York Times called “a complex bribery scheme.” Menendez is a former chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
The government has accused Menedez, 70, of accepting bribes in exchange for his influence to help New Jersey business pals and two foreign governments, Egypt and Qatar. The U.S. government says Menendez used his influence to benefit Egypt despite U.S. concerns over Cairo’s record of human rights abuses.
Authorities say Menendez allegedly took gifts from a Qatar investment deal that benefited another New Jersey business pal. The government also says Menendez shared non-public U.S. military information with Cairo and attempted to influence a U.S. attorney to drop charges against his friend.
Menendez says none of the charges are true. He says he never took bribes from anyone. He has a plausible explanation for the $400,000 and 13 gold bars that federal investigators found at his home. Menendez said his father told him to keep large amounts of cash and gold at home.
Menendez’s parents escaped Fidel Castro’s Cuba for life in America. The elder Menendez feared scarcity, the senator said. Sen. Menendez fears scarcity, too. He said he kept large amounts of cash and gold at his home due to his fear of scarcity that Castro would invade America and take over the banking system. Fidel Castro died in 2016.
The “fear of scarcity” argument by Menendez led to “a longstanding coping mechanism of [hoarding] cash in his home.” Menendez also wants New Jersey voters and a federal judge to know that he suffers from “traumatic experiences.”
Menendez’s psychiatrist stands ready to confirm for the court that the senator “experienced trauma when his father, a compulsive gambler, died by suicide after Sen. Menendez … decided to discontinue paying off his father’s gambling debt.”
I feel so sorry for Senator Menendez. I almost want him to keep all the money, the gold bars, and the other valuable stuff the government believes he took in bribes. Luckily for the government’s case, I do not reside in New Jersey.
If the Menendez family finances sound familiar, this “fear of scarce cash” issue arose recently in Georgia. Fulton County District Attorney Fauni Willis is prosecuting former President Donald Trump.
Willis hired her lover, Nathan Wade, as a special prosecutor in the Trump case. She paid him $250 an hour, or $31,000 per month. That sounded screwy to Trump and his lawyers, who moved to force Willis and Wade off the case. They wanted to move the case out of Fulton County. Wade resigned. The action is now in Willis’ lap.
During her hearing, Willis testified that she, like Menendez, stashes large amounts of cash at her home. She said her father told her to do it. Willis’ dad testified that he indeed told his daughter to keep large amounts of cash in her home. Like Menendez, Willis might also suffer from a fear of scarcity. They need to keep large amounts of cash in their homes to “cope.” Willis hasn’t mentioned Castro yet.
Perhaps the father should have told the daughter not to date a married man like Lover Boy-cum-Trump special prosecutor Wade. Willis highly valued her lover Wade’s services, presumably in the courtroom. The State of Georgia and Georgia taxpayers might be needed to teach Willis lessons that her daddy overlooked.
Financial advisers, other than the fathers of Sen. Bob Menendez and Fulton County DA Fauni Willis, do not normally advise clients to keep large amounts of cash in their homes. Cash kept at home does not accrue interest, except from the growing number of I.R.S. agents and Venezuelan home invaders.
Seriously, hoarding disorder is a serious mental health problem. If you suspect you or a friend has this condition, seek help.
