Free Republic

He's steadfastly maintained his innocence, but Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) was convicted by a federal jury in New York on Tuesday on 16 charges, including bribery, extortion, acting as a foreign agent, obstruction of justice, and several counts of conspiracy. Since his indictment, Menendez has batted away calls for him to resign his Senate seat, including by fellow Democratic Senator John Fetterman (PA). However, on Wednesday, Menendez reportedly told allies that would, indeed, resign.WASHINGTON — Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., has told allies that he will resign from Congress after being convicted on federal corruption charges, two people directly familiar with...

Rep. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) won New Jersey's Democratic Senate primary on Tuesday, bringing him one step closer to taking indicted Sen. Bob Menendez's (D-N.J.) seat, per AP.Why it matters: It comes a day after Menendez, who's on trial on federal bribery charges, filed to run for re-election as an independent for the New Jersey seat that's typically been for Democrats.What they're saying: "We built a stunningly powerful grassroots movement that took down the unfair ballot line and changed NJ politics forever.," Kim said in a statement.

Former President Donald Trump announced he is endorsing Christine Serrano Glassner in her bid to represent New Jersey in the U.S. Senate amid a heavily-watched race for the seat of incumbent Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez. "She’s a fantastic woman," Trump said about Serrano Glassner, mayor of Mendham Borough, during a New Jersey rally on Saturday. "I’m giving her my complete and total endorsement." His endorsement comes less than a month before the state is scheduled to hold its Republican Senate primary. Trump also said Serrano Glassner's GOP opponent Curtis Bashaw is a supporter of New Jersey Republican Gov. Chris Christie,...

Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) on Saturday became the first Democratic senator to call for the resignation of colleague Bob Menendez (D-NJ). In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Fetterman wrote that while Menendez is "entitled to the presumption of innocence" in the federal corruption case against him, he "cannot continue to wield influence over national policy, especially given the serious and specific nature of the allegations. "I hope he chooses an honorable exit and focuses on his trial," Fetterman added. Menendez was indicted Friday on charges including conspiracy to commit bribery, conspiracy to commit honest services fraud, and...

Israel must end its evictions of Palestinian families in east Jerusalem, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas told US House of Representative Speaker Nancy Pelosi when the two met in Ramallah. Their meeting took place as tensions have flared in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, where at least 28 Palestinian families face eviction. Abbas spoke with Pelosi on Thursday about "finally putting an end to Israel’s expulsion of Palestinians in occupied Jerusalem," according to the Palestine News Agency Wafa. He similar called for Israel to respect the "status quo" on Jerusalem's Temple Mount and for it to put an...

Direct mail coming from Nancy Pelosi’s House Majority PAC appears to accentuate but not modify the size of a Jewish Republican congressional candidate’s nose and depicts the candidate with loads of hundred dollar bills. One of the three mailers show a digitally-altered David Richter with a suit jacket lined with money, with additional cash in his pockets and in a cardboard box behind him. The others portray a similar tone. “The photo-shopped caricatures of me portrayed in these mailers, always surrounded by piles of cash, is a well-known dog whistle to those who want to further divide our country in...

On Sunday’s broadcast of ABC’s “This Week” roundtable, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) said Republicans could flip three Democratic House seats in the 2020 election as a result of the impeachment of President Donald Trump. Christie said, “You know what’s happening in blue New Jersey, a very blue state. Jeff Van Drew switches from Democrat to Republican, from the majority party to the minority party in the middle of impeachment because of impeachment. Andy Kim, who won his seat two years ago, is now losing to Katie Gibbs, his Republican challenger. And Tom Malinowski is losing to Tom...

The freshman House Democrats who gave House Speaker Nancy Pelosi her gavel by flipping Trump districts in 2018 are now in the impeachment hot seat. Seven local first-termers - New York Reps. Max Rose, Antonio Delgado, and Anthony Brindisi and New Jersey Reps. Jeff Van Drew, Andy Kim, Josh Gottheimer, and Mikie Sherrill - represent districts that voted for President Trump in 2016 but swung into the Democrats’ column in the midterm election. Now the rookies must choose which of their voters to piss off. “The luckiest guys in America this week are probably pollsters being paid to do polls...

MT. HOLLY, N.J. – Freshman Democrat Andy Kim (D, NJ-03) stirred controversy on social media over the Memorial Day holiday weekend when a picture surfaced of the South Jersey Congressman appearing to decline to salute the flag at a district memorial service. Critics say Kim’s apparent decision to keep his hands folded while everyone else saluted was disrespectful: