OLD AND IN THE WAY: New Jersey Rep. Mikie Sherrill yesterday joined the small chorus in Congress to publicly call for President Biden to quit his race for re-election, saying in a statement, “Because I know President Biden cares deeply about the future of our country, I am asking that he declare that he won’t run for reelection and will help lead us through a process toward a new nominee.”

  For the most part, Democrats who think Biden should leave the race have failed to push him out and they certainly have not convinced him to go on his own. In public appearances Biden has mostly stuck to a script, leaving doubts about whether he can speak without the aid of a teleprompter.

  Senator Patty Murray of Washington put out a statement saying that the president “must do more to demonstrate that he can campaign strong enough to beat Donald Trump.”

  Colorado’s Democratic Senator Michael Bennet went on CNN last night and said he thinks Trump could win in a “landslide” in November. “For me, this isn’t a question about polling; it’s not a question about politics. It’s a moral question about the future of our country.”

  Even ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos was caught on a guerilla street video saying he doesn’t think Biden can serve another four years.

  Biden tried to put all this to the test yesterday with a strong speech opening the NATO summit in Washington. In a forceful voice, yet still reading from a teleprompter, Biden vowed to “defend every inch” of NATO territory — on land, in space and in cyberspace. He said about Ukraine, which is not a member of NATO, “The war will end with Ukraine remaining a free and independent country.”

THE JUSTICE FILES: Two powerful Democratic senators asked the Justice Department to open a criminal investigation into Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas for possible violations of federal ethics and tax laws.

  In a letter last week to Attorney General Merrick Garland, Senators Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island and Ron Wyden of Oregon asked for a special counsel to investigate Justice Thomas’s failure to disclose potentially millions of dollars’ worth of gifts, travel, and the loan for a giant camper bus given to him by rich friends.

  “We do not make this request lightly,” the senators wrote in a joint statement. “Supreme Court justices are properly expected to obey laws designed to prevent conflicts of interest and the appearance of impropriety and to comply with the federal tax code.” They said Thomas Justice Thomas showed a “willful pattern of disregard for ethics laws.”

IN CLOSING: A lawyer for New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez told the jury yesterday that the prosecution is trying to portray his client as “Scrooge McDuck swimming in gold coins.”

  Attorney Adam Fee told the jury in Federal Court in Manhattan, “Don’t fall into a trap of buying a story — a forceful, well-told, long, long story,” He said. “Resist that.”

  Menendez is accused of selling his powers of office for cash, gold bars, and a Mercedes for his wife. He is charged with 16 counts, including bribery, honest services wire fraud, extortion, obstruction of justice, acting as an agent for Egypt and conspiracy.

  While admitting that the FBI found reams of cash and gold bars in the Menendez home, Fee told the jury there was no testimony to connect that to influence peddling. Fee asked, “Have they shown you evidence, a human being, a text message, an email, something you can rely upon, a reasonable credible inference that shows you something was given to the senator in exchange for an official act?” 

  Fee argued that much of the valuables were legitimate gifts given to the senator’s wife, Nadine. She is also under indictment.

THE RUSSIA HOUSE: A Russian court ordered the arrest of Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of the late opposition leader Aleksei Navalny, accusing her of “participating in an extremist community.”

  Navalnaya left Russia in 2021 and would be arrested if she returns to her home country. Her husband died in a Siberian prison held on similarly trumped up charges after an attempt to kill him with poison in 2020.

  Navalnaya has been a critic of the war in Ukraine and has accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of murdering her husband.

THE WAR ROOM: As Ukraine continues to dig trench lines along the eastern front, US officials say Russia is unlikely to be able to take considerably more territory from the invaded country. After seizing the city of Avdiivka, the Russians have been unable to take Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city.

  The Russians are still battering Ukrainian forces but taking horrific casualties in the process. Although they might not be able to take the whole country, Russia is working at making Ukraine unlivable, destroying vital infrastructure, including the electrical grid.

  Ukraine and its future is a major source of discussion at the NATO summit in Washington this week. US support for NATO and Ukraine are in doubt while Donald Trump runs for the presidency.

THE SPIN RACK:  A third hiker has died in the Grand Canyon this month. This time it was a 50-year-old man. No cause has been given, but extreme heat is suspected. — Former Wall Street Journal health care reporter Stephanie Armour has sued her former employer claiming that layoffs targeted people with high health care costs. The Journal self-insures and Armour says she has post-traumatic stress and anxiety disorders. 

BELOW THE FOLD: K-Pop star Jennie of Blackpink has apologized after a video showed her vaping indoors sparked a huge outcry in South Korea. Well, finally, that’s settled.

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