July 17, 2024

Vol. 13, No. 2132

CONVICTED: New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez was convicted in Manhattan yesterday on all counts of a federal corruption indictment, making him only the seventh US senator in history to be convicted while in office. He is the first to be convicted of selling influence to foreigners.

 Senate majority Leader Chuck Schumer quickly called upon Menendez to resign as did New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, also a Democrat. Speaking to reporters outside court Menendez said, “I’ve never been anything but a patriot of my country and for my country.”

  Menendez survived a previous corruption indictment and trial. This time he was convicted of selling the influence of his office to foreign powers and crooked businessmen for hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, gold bars, and a Mercedez for his wife. Two other men were convicted of bribing Menendez and a third pleaded guilty before trial. 

  Menendez’s wife, Nadine, was indicted with him in the scheme but her trial has been delayed while she undergoes cancer treatment. The senator’s lawyer argued during the trial that the wads of cash and gold bars found in their home were legitimate gifts given to Mrs. Menendez.

CONVENTIONAL: Former ambassador and South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, who campaigned for president saying Donald Trump is unhinged and unfit for office, spoke at the Republican convention to endorse him last night

  It’s yet another example of how you can’t believe a word uttered by the current batch of Republican leaders. It’s one thing to campaign on issues, lose, and endorse the winner, but to declare someone “unhinged” and then endorse him?

  Haley said last night that she endorses Trump “for the sake of our nation,” and that, “You don’t have to agree with Trump 100 percent of the time to vote for him.”

  So, evidently unhinged is OK. Haley is probably angling for a position in a second Trump administration to keep her active and in the public eye. What it means is that you will not be able to believe a word she utters in 2028 when she runs again.

   Former Arizona anchorwoman Kari lake, who’s running for Senate, opened up with an attack on the press: “You guys up there in the fake news have worn out your welcome.” She claimed the “fake news” has been lying about Donald Trump for the past eight years. She’s an election-denying darling of the party who’s never been elected to anything.

  Congresswoman Elise Stefanik of New York spouted the often repeated Republican lie that there is an uncontrolled crime wave in the country. Crime is down dramatically since the end of the Trump administration. 

  And reality television star Savannah Chrisley spoke claiming that her imprisoned parents, Todd and Julie, were the victims of “rogue prosecutors in Fulton County due to our public profile — I know, Fulton County, they know how to do it, don’t they — due to our public profile and conservative beliefs.” 

  The Chrisleys were convicted of defrauding community banks out of more than $30 million.

UNCONVENTIONAL: In a leaked video of a phone call between independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Donald Trump, the former president cozies up to Kennedy expressing doubts about vaccines. Kennedy is an anti-vaxxer and Trump wants him to give up his run and link up with the MAGA movement.

  Trump said, “When you feed a baby, Bobby, a vaccination that is like 38 different vaccines, and it looks like it’s meant for a horse, not a, you know, 10-pound or 20-pound baby.” He goes on, “And then you see the baby all of a sudden starting to change radically, I’ve seen it too many times,” Trump said. “And then you hear that it doesn’t have an impact, right? But you and I talked about that a long time ago.”

  The video was posted early yesterday by Kennedy’s eldest son, Bobby Kennedy III, and then quickly taken down. 

ECON 101: The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at a record high yesterday, up 743 points at 40,954.48.  It’s been gaining every day since last Wednesday. June retail sales were good and investors are betting on the Federal Reserve dropping interest rates.

THE OBIT PAGE: James Sikking, an actor with the air of authority who rose to prominence as Lt. Howard Hunter on the long-running police series “Hill Street Blues,” has died of complications of dementia at age 90.  He told The New York Times in 1988, “I have that professional, intelligent look in my eye that hires me as doctors, lawyers, professional people.” 

THE SPIN RACK:  Tech billionaire Elon Musk announced that he’s moving his companies Twitter/X and SpaceX from California to Texas. Musk blamed California laws that he says attack families and companies. He has a transgender child and one of the laws to which he objects bars schools from outing trans kids to their parents. — A man armed with a knife was shot dead yesterday by police officers from Columbus, Ohio who were part of the 4,500 member Republican Convention security force in Milwaukee. The incident happened about a mile from the convention center. — A 52-year-old man and his 22-year-old daughter died Friday in Canyonlands National Park in Utah after getting lost and running out of water in extreme heat. Another man died in the heat on Saturday.

BELOW THE FOLD: Trader Joe’s “Everything But the Bagel” seasoning mix is banned in South Korea because the combination of salt, minced garlic, and sesame seeds also has poppy seeds that are considered a narcotic in that country. Cream cheese is OK.

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