There’s no sympathy for Bob Menendez at all; however, all things considered, he was convicted of doing the same thing that every Senator on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee does, and the same thing that Joe Biden did for decades… Sell the influence of their office to foreign countries. They all do it.

The difference with Senator Bob Menendez was only that he was so open about doing it, and he dropped all the pretenses that usually provide the plausible deniability factor. Today the judge sentenced him to 11-years in federal prison.

WASHINGTON – […] A jury in July found Menendez, along with Edgewater developer Fred Daibes and Egyptian American businessman Wael Hana, guilty on all charges related to the bribery scheme. Daibes was sentenced to seven years in prison and fined $1.75 million. Hana was sentenced to a little more than eight years in prison and fined $1.3 million. Menendez was not fined for his part in the corruption.

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Today, Robert F Kennedy Jr will become the first of this week’s trio of nominees to enter the arena.   RFK Jr was nominated for Secretary of Health & Human Services and his first day of inquisition occurs before the Senate Finance Committee.

The Senate confirmation hearing is scheduled to begin at 10:00am EST, with livestream links below.

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In an effort to keep the Daily Open Thread a little more open topic we are going to start a new daily thread for “Presidential Politics”. Please use this thread to post anything relating to the Donald Trump Administration and Presidency.

This thread will refresh daily and appear above the Open Discussion Thread.

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Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. THY WILL BE DONE, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but DELIVER US FROM EVIL.

For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen †

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Former vice-presidential running mate to Robert F Kennedy Jr, Nicole Shanahan, has released a video threatening to personally fund primary challengers for those Senators who do not support the nomination of Robert F Kennedy Jr.

Saying, “Bobby may play nice, I won’t” Ms. Shanahan is vowing to target Senators, many of them she funded, if they cower to Big Pharma and Big Agriculture. Additionally, Shanahan provided a list of key Senators and their contact details for a public pressure campaign. Robert F Kennedy’s first confirmation hearing is scheduled for Wednesday at 10:00am EST.

Senator Mitch McConnell (R) Call: 202-224-2541
Senator Lindsey Graham (R) Call: 202-224-5972
Senator Lisa Murkowski (R) Call: 202-224-6665
Senator Susan Collins (R) Call: 202-224-2523
Senator Bill Cassidy (R) Call: 202-224-5824
Senator Thom Tillis (R) Call: 202-224-6342
Senator James Lankford (R) Call: 202-224-5754
Senator Cory Booker (D) Call: 202-224-3224
Senator John Fetterman (D) Call: 202-224-4254
Senator Bernie Sanders (D) Call: 202-224-5141
Senator Cortez-Masto (D) Call: 202-224-3542
Senator Raphael Warnock (D) Call: 202-224-3643
Senator Jon Ossoff (D) Call: 202-224-3521

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Jake Tapper is chasing Jim Acosta’s career path.

CNN and most corporate media spent the prior 36 hours creating fake news stories about a widespread pause in federal spending.  According to CNN and others, all federal spending was being stopped. Fake News.

With the Fake News they created in hand, the media and CNN then begin questioning politicians about something that doesn’t exist.  The politicians are confused.  The media then promote the confusion of the politicians as evidence of damage within the fake news they created.  More media then begins reporting on the confusion and widespread panic ensues.

Those individuals, people and organizations who are dependent on federal spending rushed head-first into a state of apoplexy.  CNN’s Jake Tapper then climbs the highest horse, grabs the flag of righteousness to defend the apoplectic, and pretends not to know that CNN Fake News created the panic that CNN Fake News now blames on Trump.  WATCH:

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According to media reports, President Trump has removed the entire leadership structure of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), previously run by Samantha Power.

This is not necessarily a domestic issue.  Those who walk the deepest political weeds well understand that USAID is the cover agency for the interventionist efforts of the CIA.  USAID is the agency silo that coordinates the meddling in foreign elections, organizes the revolutions and political opposition of those deemed out of alignment with global democratic norms, funds the NGOs who do the ground operations, and generally seeks to replace foreign leaders.

President Trump has just removed the entire leadership structure of the USAID enterprise, approximately 60 government officials.  You can bet that nationalist leaders of foreign countries are smiling now while Brussels (EU Commission) is left wondering who will pay for the foot soldiers.

(Via Politico) – […] The order — sent via email to members of the senior executive and senior Foreign Service — was issued close to the end of the business day Monday and was effective immediately, according to two current USAID officials and three former USAID officials told of the communication. It comes as USAID and the State Department have been ordered to impose halts on a vast number of humanitarian and related programs around the world.

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Acting Attorney General James McHenry has fired more than a dozen career prosecutors from Main Justice citing their work with the Special Counsel Jack Smith targeting of President Trump.  This is an exceptionally valuable non-pretending approach toward eliminating the weaponization of the DOJ, the history of the manipulation of the DOJ/FBI serves as the backdrop.

Remember when Robert Mueller spent 2 years investigating the Trump-Russia collusion nonsense, and it was later discovered the investigative team (5o FBI agents) knew in January 2017, the Trump-Russia collusion claim was false.  Why did those 50 FBI agents remain employed, when it was clear they knew there was no basis for the accusations?  The simple non-pretending questions are always the starkest.

That’s the sentiment behind current Acting AG James McHenry, firing the lawyers who worked with Jack Smith.  In addition to the fabrication of a prosecutorial predicate, the deployment of Lawfare is not based on factual law.  The prosecutors showed their political bias by willingly engaging in a prosecution they understood was without merit.

(WASHINGTON AP) – […] The abrupt termination targeting career prosecutors who worked on special counsel Jack Smith’s team is the latest sign of upheaval inside the Justice Department and is consistent with the administration’s determination to purge the government of workers it perceives as disloyal to the president.

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Moments after President Donald Trump posted a snarky tribute to Jim Acosta losing his timeslot at CNN Fake News, Acosta quit the network.

“Wow, really good news! Jim Acosta, one of the worst and most dishonest reporters in journalistic history, a major sleazebag, has been relegated by CNN Fake News to the Midnight hour, “Death Valley,” because of extraordinarily BAD RATINGS (and no talent!). Word is that he wants to QUIT, and that would be even better. Jim is a major loser who will fail no matter where he ends up. Good luck Jim!” ~ President Donald Trump

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Today at 1:00pm EST, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt will hold her first briefing from the Brady press room in the White House.

With eight days of rapid activity from the office of President Donald Trump, the DC Press Corps is loaded with ammunition to begin their ever-insufferable onslaught. against Leavitt and the administration.  Livestream links are below.  ENJOY: 

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