Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) was convicted on Tuesday of all 16 counts he faced in his corruption trial. Charges included accepting gold and cash bribes and acting as a foreign agent for the Egyptian government. The verdict was the culmination of a nine week trial. Prosecutors argued that Menendez abused the power of his office to protect and enrich his associates, including his wife. Menendez faces up to 222 years in prison but is unlikely to receive the maximum sentence. Several factors will play into his final sentencing, but Kevin O’Brien, a former federal prosecutor, told POLITICO, “A term in prison would be totally appropriate.” This trial was the second time Menendez has faced corruption allegations. An unrelated 2017 trial ended with a deadlocked jury. The verdict also comes just four months before Election Day, possibly ruining Menendez’s chances of running for reelection as an independent candidate. His move to run as an independent instead of as a democrat already complicated a race that would typically be a “layup” in liberal New Jersey. Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has called for Menendez’s resignation.  In light of this guilty verdict, Senator Menendez must now do what is right for his constituents, the Senate, and our country, and resign.— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) July 16, 2024 If Menendez does not resign, his colleagues could vote to expel him. If he loses his seat, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy would appoint an interim senator to serve the rest of Menendez’s term. The senator is expected to appeal. He maintained to the press after the trial, “I have never violated my public oath.” The post Menendez Convicted on All Counts appeared first on The American Conservative.

In his home state of Wisconsin, Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) gave a speech Monday at the Republican National Convention in which he highlighted the transformation of the GOP under the former President Donald Trump.  Centering his speech around the Democrat’s leftward shift on social issues, Johnson told the audience, “Today’s Democrat Party is not the party of our parents or grandparents, that party cared about workers and people struggling to get by. Now they are the party of open borders, reckless spending, weaponized government, and weakness on the world stage.” “This fringe agenda includes biological males competing against girls and the sexualization and indoctrination of our children,” said Johnson. “Democrats have forgotten American families, they have abandoned the hard working middle class, but with President Trump’s Republicans, those forgotten Americans are forgotten no more.” Shortly after his speech at the Republican National Convention, Senator Ron Johnson talked with The American Conservative’s Bradley Devlin about the center of gravity in the Republican Party shifting towards the Midwest, highlighting the decision to host the RNC in Johnson’s home state this year.  Johnson argued that Trump’s background has given him a particular strength in the former Blue Wall, stating: Think of his background, he’s a developer, right? So he’s into construction. He goes to construction sites, he loves the workers. And he talks to the workers. And they like the fact that he talks to him. So he has that connection with workers. Johnson reiterated his claim about the Democrats abandoning the working class, stating that they “used to be the party of workers and people struggling to get by,” but that they have become “the party of wokeness.”  “We’re the party that represents the forgotten men and women of this country,” Johnson said. The post Ron Johnson: President Trump ‘Catalyst’ for ‘Total Shift in Our Politics’  appeared first on The American Conservative.

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