Turns out corruption is bipartisan, but only one party seems to care about it!

Friday, Sept 22, 2023
BY JULIA CLAIRE & CROOKED MEDIA

- Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) ([link removed]) when asked how much sympathy he has for the current “predicament” of GOP House Speaker Kevin McCarthy
Editor's note: Crooked Media’s fearless Editor-in-Chief Brian Beutler is sadly (for me!) leaving us and embarking on his own venture, Off Message ([link removed]) . Give it a look-see and subscribe. Many thanks to Brian for being a great boss, catching all of my errors, and reining me in when I was going too wild in the Google Doc (most days). Thank you for building this newsletter where I get to call Mitch McConnell a dumb bitch five days a week. - Julia

It’s Friday so you know what that means: Bipartisan acts of corruption!

* Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and his wife Nadine have been charged with bribery over their alleged acceptance of “hundreds of thousands of dollars” ([link removed]) in return for the Senator’s influence. According to the indictment filed in Manhattan federal court, Menendez participated in a scheme to personally enrich three New Jersey businessmen and benefit the Egyptian government. The charges include conspiracy to commit bribery, conspiracy to commit honest services fraud, and conspiracy to commit extortion under color of official right. That’s…a lot of conspiracy!

* The federal indictment depicts a plan hatched during expensive dinners, over text messages, and on encrypted phone calls ([link removed]) . Mrs. Menendez is accused of acting as a liaison for the dealings, passing messages to an American-Egyptian businessman who maintained close contact with military and intelligence officials within the Egyptian government. The bribes received by the couple included “cash, gold bars, payments toward a home mortgage, compensation for a low-or-no-show job, a luxury vehicle, and other items of value.” Damn!!!

* For his part, Menendez was defiant, and said he was confident that the matter would be “successfully resolved once once all of the facts are presented.” Prosecutors say that a search of the Menendez home turned up $100,000 in gold bars and $480,000 in cash ([link removed]) . Well okay then! Menendez has been under almost continuous investigation for corruption since 2006 ([link removed]) (!), but keeps getting re-elected! I guess New Jerseyans believe in their credo: “You can have a little corruption, as a treat.” Menendez sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer saying he would step down temporarily as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee. Gov. Phil Murphy (D-NJ) called on Menendez to resign ([link removed]) from office.

No bipartisan corruption news roundup would be complete without—you know where this is going—Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

* Each year, some of the wealthiest people in America descend on Palm Springs to attend the Koch network donor summit for a long weekend of big-ticket fundraising for the political organization founded by far-right billionaires Charles and David Koch. According to a new investigation from ProPublica ([link removed]) , in 2018, a key fundraising draw for these elite donors was a private audience with conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Thomas has had a yearslong, personal relationship with the Koch brothers, concealed from public view. The brothers were introduced to Thomas at Bohemian Grove, a secretive all-men’s retreat in Northern California. A spokesperson for the Koch network denied that Thomas was present for fundraising conversations.

* Regardless, the Koch network, called Stand Together, and its subsidiaries have had multiple cases come before the Supreme Court during Thomas’s tenure. John E. Jones III, a retired federal judge appointed by President George W. Bush, had this to say: “I can’t imagine — it takes my breath away, frankly — that he would go to a Koch network event for donors,” and that if he as a district court judge had even attended such an event “I’d have gotten a letter that would’ve commenced a disciplinary proceeding.” The Supreme Court will hear a case this coming term brought by the Koch network to limit federal regulatory powers over issues spanning from the environment, labor rights, to consumer protections. Thomas used to support the precedent, but—you’re not gonna believe this—he flipped his position in the past few years ([link removed]) .

Thus far, no congressional Republicans have called on Clarence Thomas to resign, despite the past six months of ProPublica investigations having unearthed huge, intentional omissions in his financial disclosure forms. Democrats are already calling on Bob Menendez to resign, and his scandal has barely been public for 24 hours. Interesting how each party treats corruption and wrongdoing among its own ranks! Just something to consider!

The second GOP presidential debate is coming up on Wednesday, September 27th, which means it’s time for another Friends of the Pod exclusive Group Thread! Join us on Discord for live reactions and commentary during the debate. Your favorite Crooked hosts and staff, including Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett, Tommy Vietor, Dan Pfeiffer, will be watching with you as this magical night unfolds. Will Vivek Ramaswamy incite another pile on? Will Ron DeSantis finally master the human smile? Will Tommy get drunk and start posting gifs? We’re on the edge of our seats. Don’t miss out. Subscribe to Friends of the Pod to join our Group Thread at Crooked.com/friends ([link removed]) .
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The United Auto Workers union turned up the heat on General Motors and Stellantis and widened strikes against the companies to include all of their spare-parts distribution centers ([link removed]) . This is a dicey strategy for the union, because it’s taking the strike directly to consumers, who could turn their backs against the UAW if it becomes too difficult to get their automobiles fixed. On the other hand, it could pressure the automakers to hand over more concessions in contract negotiations. UAW president Shawn Fain said that talks with the two companies had not progressed significantly, particularly by comparison to Ford Motor, which he said has done more to reach across the aisle to the union. The move brings the total number of striking UAW workers to more than 18,000. Fain invited President Biden to visit a picket line, and just hours later, Biden announced that he will “join the picket line and stand in
solidarity with the men and women of UAW as they fight for a fair share of the value they helped create.” This historic visit will take place on Tuesday, just one day before disgraced former president Donald Trump has planned his own speech in Michigan ([link removed]) . Biden’s attendance at a picket line will be perhaps the single greatest show of labor solidarity from a sitting president in U.S. history.

After nearly a year of rebuffing such requests from Kyiv, the Biden administration will provide Ukraine with a version of its long-range missiles with cluster bomblets ([link removed]) .

A Yemini man who has been held in Guantanamo Bay for 20 years as a 9/11 defendant was ruled unfit for trial because a psychological evaluation determined that decades of torture left him in a state of prolonged psychosis ([link removed]) .


An 11-year-old girl in Ohio was manipulated into sending explicit photos to an adult. Her father turned to the police for help, who then threatened to charge the child with a crime ([link removed]) .


Tropical Storm Ophelia is forming off the American mid-Atlantic coast ([link removed]) and is expected to bring heavy rains and wind to the region.


With just 8 days until a potential government shutdown (thanks, House GOP!), the White House Budget Office has notified agencies to prepare to alert federal workers ([link removed]) .


A genetically-modified heart from a pig has been transplanted successfully into a second patient ([link removed]) , after the first patient to receive the same such organ died after two months.

The No Labels Party has yet to officially commit to running candidates for president and vice president, but it has already gained ballot access in 11 states. One of those states is electorally-crucial Arizona, where the party has already registered 15,000 voters ahead of its 2024 ambitions ([link removed]) for what the group calls a “unity ticket” and which everyone else calls “a center-right vanity exercise guaranteed to elect Donald Trump.” Indeed, 15,000 votes may seem statistically insignificant, but it would be enough to tip the state in Donald Trump’s favor. No Labels organizers say they are on track to reach 20 states by the end of this year and all 50 by Election Day. That’s bad! No Labels' own polling shows that a centrist third-party candidate would only pull votes from President Biden and would help Trump
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Taylor Swift got 35,000 Americans registered to vote. Vote.org received record-breaking web traffic ([link removed]) . Her power!!!


The Biden comms team keeps putting up Ws with this pro-union ad ([link removed]) , the audio of which is entirely GOP criticisms of the president being too on the side of workers.

The White House announced the creation of the National Office of Gun Violence Prevention ([link removed]) .
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