How Will MSNBC Handle Its Menendez Family Conflict of Interest?

(AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez (D-NJ) was indicted on bribery charges for alleged crimes committed as part of a scheme involving his wife Nadine, the Egyptian Government, and three New Jersey businessmen on Friday.

Prosecutors for the U.S. Attorney’s office in the Southern District of New York charged Menendez with having “promised to and did use his influence and power and breach his official duty in ways that benefited the Government of Egypt.”

The court filing reads:

Among other actions, MENENDEZ provided sensitive U.S. Government information and took other steps that secretly aided the Government of Egypt. MENENDEZ also improperly advised and pressured an official at the United States Department of Agriculture for the purpose of protecting a business monopoly granted to HANA by Egypt and used in part to fund the bribes being paid to MENENDEZ through NADINE MENENDEZ.

Besides the Menendez clan itself, Friday’s news also could also trouble MSNBC, the cable news network where Alicia Menendez, the 40-year-old daughter of Bob Menendez, hosts a weekend show called American Voices with Alicia Menendez.

The most obvious question that comes to mind is “Will MSNBC allow Menendez to address the scandal in any way?” One might be quick to assume the answer is an an easy no, but if CNN’s handling of the Andrew Cuomo sexual misconduct case is any indication, that assumption can’t be taken for granted.

In March 2021 after the allegations against him first came to light, CNN host Chris Cuomo opened his show by acknowledging that he was “aware of what’s going on with my brother.”

“Obviously I cannot cover it because he is my brother. Now, of course, CNN has to cover it. They have covered it extensively and they will continue to do so. I have always cared very deeply about these issues and profoundly so. I just wanted to tell you that,” he continued.

The lines only got blurrier from there. That May, it was discovered that Cuomo was advising his brother on how to handle the scandal. CNN called this inappropriate given his position, but did not take any action to discipline him.

Eventually, it was revealed by the New York attorney general’s office that Chris Cuomo had used his position at CNN to gather intel on possible accusers against his brother while working hand-in-hand with his staff. “On it,” he told a top aide who tasked him with finding out if Politico was going to give voice to more accusers.

Still more problems were observable in CNN’s handling of the deluge of allegations against Andrew Cuomo. As Mediaite’s Caleb Howe noticed at the time, the network completely ignored a bombshell report about how Cuomo’s administration had given preferential medical treatment to members of the governor’s family, including Chris.

Will MSNBC make it clear to its employee that she cannot use her unique position to gather information for or otherwise help her father?

Will it ensure that its other personalities cover every angle of the Menendez story?

Will it ask those personalities to disclose their relationships with Alicia Menendez?

Right now, the answer to all of these questions is “we don’t know.” MSNBC has not returned Mediaite’s request for comment.

But soon enough, the network will have to formulate a plan for how it will handle this potentially troublesome conflict of interest.

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.