“Six years is a long time,” said former Sen. Robert Torricelli (D), who left the Senate a decade ago under his own ethics cloud. “I think Bob Menendez is a very tenacious person, and he has the advantage of six long years and a fairly forgiving political environment in New Jersey.

“I wouldn’t be wasting time on a Bob Menendez political obituary,” he added…

Menendez’s aides will have not comment on whether the senator has hired a defense attorney at this time or will set up a legal defense fund to help cover the costs of any ethics or criminal investigation. Marc Elias, a well-known Democratic lawyer, is advising Menendez on ethics issues but is not involved in the broader criminal case, multiple sources said…

New Jersey political insiders tell POLITICO that even if its shown Menendez had sex with prostitutes, he can survive that hit politically. Menendez wouldn’t even be the first sitting senator to weather a prostitution scandal; Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) admitted in 2007 that he had called a D.C-based prostitution ring. Vitter, however, did not admit to having sex with prostitutes and the Senate Ethics Committee did not investigate the matter.