Let us turn away for a moment from the great show going on in Washington and look for a moment at a show taking place in Newark.

That's the Bob Menendez show.

Our senior senator is about to go on trial on corruption charges in a case that has a little bit of everything that makes life in this democracy so fascinating: parties in the tropics, a mysterious and beautiful Russian woman named Svitlana, and a big dose of Palm Beach high life.

That life was led by Salomon Melgen, an eye doctor who is truly larger than life.

Unfortunately, the bills he submitted to Medicare were also larger than life. In April, he was convicted by a jury in Palm Beach on 67 counts stemming from his practice of billing Medicare for as much as $20 million a year for some highly questionable treatments.

The 67-year-old Melgen is due to be sentenced on Aug. 11 to a prison term that might amount to a life sentence. He could get even more time if he's found guilty in the Sept. 6 trial in Newark, in which he is a co-defendant with the senator.

In that case, Menendez faces a 10-count indictment accusing him of taking flights on the doctor's private jet and on commercial and chartered jets as well as a free hotel room in Paris and other goodies -- allegedly in return for doing various favors for the doctor

Will the doctor turn on the senator to bargain for a light sentence?

We should know that in the next two weeks. If he does it, will be bad news for the former Union City mayor who rode the Hudson County machine all the way to the U.S. Senate.

But Menendez got some good news recently from the other side of the Hudson River. That came in a case involving Sheldon Silver, the former New York Assembly Speaker who represented a district in Lower Manhattan.

In 2015, Silver was convicted on charges that he gave favors to constituents who steered business to his law firm. But on July 13, a federal Appellate Court in Manhattan reversed the conviction and ordered a new trial.

The grounds were somewhat technical. But on that technicality may ride the senator's chances of remaining a free man.

In the 2-1 decision, the judges ruled that the judge in Silver's trial had employed an overbroad definition of the term "official act" in charging the jury.

The jurors were told they could convict Silver if they found he had performed "any action taken under color of official authority" for his benefactors.

But shortly after Silver was convicted, the Supreme Court issued a ruling reversing the conviction of former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell in a similar case.

McDonnell had gotten various goodies from a supporter. But the high court ruled that he could not be convicted of corruption unless he had engaged in "the formal exercise of government power" in return for the gifts.

Just setting up meetings and making phone calls doesn't count. There has to be some official action by the defendant.

Menendez is being represented by Abbe Lowell, one of the nation's top defense attorneys - who's also representing Jared Kushner in that D.C. drama.

Lowell lost no time in filing a motion to have the charges against Menendez thrown out on the grounds that the favors he allegedly performed for the doctor did not rise to the level of "official acts."

Those favors included intervening with the federal bureaucracy on Melgen's behalf in the Medicare case as well as in Melgen's efforts to get a lucrative port-security contract in the Dominican Republic.

The senator is also accused of helping Melgen get visas to import various girlfriends, including the aforementioned Svitlana Buchyk.

But do those actions meet the Supreme Court's definition of "official acts?"

A lot is riding on the answer, including what could be a deciding vote on many issues that come before the Senate.

The Republicans would like nothing more than to add a seat to their shaky 52-48 majority. If Menendez is convicted and has to resign immediately, then Gov. Christie will have the opportunity to fill the seat until November of 2018, presumably with a Republican - even himself.

But if the senator could hold onto his seat until mid-January, the appointment would be up to the next governor. Polls say that's likely to be Democrat Phil Murphy.

Even if Menendez is convicted, it takes a two-thirds vote of the Senate to expel a member. That means 25 or so Democrats would have to support the expulsion.

Would they do so if a fellow Democrat filed an appeal on the same grounds Silver did?

All of that hinges on what happens at the trial.

It promises to be the best show this side of the Beltway.

PLUS: The insightful Phil Kerpen has a great column about how the endgame could play out if Menendez is convicted.

It takes a two-third vote of the Senate to remove a member convicted on a felony. Will the Dems find a way to delay until a Democratic governor takes office?

Here's Phil's take:

If Menendez is convicted but refuses to resign, the Senate Ethics Committee should act as quickly as possible to recommend expulsion, and if necessary the full Senate should vote on expulsion.

That course of action would be appropriate according to the standard set by the Democratic Senate Caucus itself as recently as 2008, when it issued a press release with the headline: "A Convicted Felon Is Not Going to Be Able to Serve in the United States Senate."

"And as precedent shows us," Democratic Leader Harry Reid said, a convicted felon senator "will face an ethics committee investigation and expulsion, regardless of his appeals process."

"This is not a partisan issue," Reid added.

He was talking about Ted Stevens, a Republican, and to the credit of Republicans they strongly agreed he should resign or be expelled.

But will Democrats change their tune if the felon senator is one of theirs?It's hard to doubt that they will.

BELOW: Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose: