* From about a year ago, provided as background…

U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey has been indicted on federal corruption charges in connection with an ongoing investigation into his business dealings with a Florida doctor, authorities said Wednesday.

The indictment charges the Democrat, who has held his seat since 2006, with 14 counts, including bribery and conspiracy, over his ties to Salomon Melgen, a wealthy Florida optometrist and the politician’s longtime friend. […]

The indictment states that Menendez accepted nearly $1 million worth of “lavish gifts” and campaign contributions from Melgen in exchange for using the power of his Senate office to influence the outcome of ongoing contractual and Medicare billing disputes worth tens of millions of dollars to Melgen.

Melgen was also seeking Menendez’s support of the visa applications of several of Melgen’s girlfriends, according to the indictment.

* Sen. Mark Kirk was slammed hard for his comments about how the President of the United States actually wants to “get nukes to Iran,” but he has repeatedly stood behind another remark from back then…

Senator Mark Kirk, a Republican from Illinois, says the nuclear agreement with Iran “condemns the next generation to cleaning up a nuclear war in the Persian Gulf.” […]

“The president will make this a viciously partisan issue, leading most Democrats to standing with the Iranians and hopefully losing the next election on this point,” Kirk said. “He will ask the Democrats all to stand with Iran and make sure that we can’t get two-thirds majorities in the House and Senate.”

Asked if any Democrats disagreed with the president, Kirk pointed to New York Sen. Chuck Schumer and New Jersey Democrat Bob Menendez, who he believed “has just been indicted maybe on the crime of being against the Iran deal.”

Kirk said he believed the only reason the president supported legislation from Republican Sen. Bob Corker, the chair of the Foreign Relations Committee, that allowed Congress to review the deal was because he “wants…to get nukes to Iran.”

* And again…

At least one Republican is coming to aid Menendez: Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Illinois. He argues the president (who comes from the same state) is exacting revenge on Menendez because he was using his position on the Foreign Affairs Committee to undermine the administration’s nuclear talks with Iran.

“I worry that in Chicago they play a kind of politics just to destroy and bury our enemies,” Kirk accused. “And this is kind of Chicago politics with Bob.”

Kirk doesn’t have evidence, but he says if you think New Jersey politics are rough, just come to Chicago where the president was groomed.

“You know, the case of what Justice Department people come to the president and say, ‘Hey, we were thinking about nailing Menendez to the wall.’ I think the president probably says, ‘Yeah, go for it.’”

That’s a farfetched conspiracy, according to many observers — even allies of Menendez, including U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-New Jersey.

* And he’s still at it, according to a Politico story today…

U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk hasn’t let up on his insistence that President Obama is using his power as president to lash out at a political enemy.

At a fundraising event last month in Chicago, the Illinois Republican can be heard on audio defending indicted New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez, a Democrat, while accusing Obama of targeting Menendez because of his stance on Iran.

“And let me say something about Bob Menendez. I believe that Bob Menendez was indicted solely on the crime of opposing the President on Iran,” Kirk is heard saying on a recording provided to POLITICO. […]

On Thursday, Kirk’s campaign shrugged off the audio, saying Kirk has stood by his statement and made similar remarks in the past.

So, he’s repeatedly defending a fellow US Senator who’s been indicted on 8 bribery counts and his opponent is the DC insider and is “everything that’s wrong with Washington”?

C’mon, man.

* Meanwhile, Kirk is up with a new TV ad blasting Tammy Duckworth…

* Related…

* KFVS: Whistleblowers on Duckworth Lawsuit