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On Thursday, October 28, supporters of the People's Mujahidin ‎Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) and the National Council of ‎Resistance of Iran (NCRI) held a large conference in Washington ‎DC. The conference, titled, "2021 Free Iran Summit: Holding ‎Ebrahim Raisi Accountable for Crimes Against Humanity, ‎Genocide, Regional Meddling, and Nuclear Defiance," ‎ This conference, however, was significantly different from similar ‎meetings that were previously held in the United States. In this ‎ever-important gathering, in addition to distinguished American ‎personalities such as Senator Joe Lieberman, US Vice President ‎candidate (2000), Senator Torricelli, U.S. Senator (1997-2003), ‎Honorable Judge Michael Mukasey, 81st U.S. Attorney...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A heated exchanged between President Barack Obama and Sen. Robert Menendez (D-New Jersey) broke out Thursday over whether the U.S. should reimpose sanctions on Iran amid ongoing negotiations over the country's nuclear program, according to two senators who were in the room. Menendez, the leading Democrat pushing for additional sanctions against Iran, forcefully pressed Obama on the need for additional sanctions during a meeting in which Obama urged Menendez and other senators to drop their efforts to pass sanctions legislation. Additional sanctions, Obama argued, could torpedo ongoing negotiations over Iran's nuclear program. The unusually sharp exchange, between...

Former Sen. Robert G. Torricelli, a top fundraiser for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, is sending hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations from his 2002 Senate campaign to a private foundation registered in his name and based out of his New Jersey lobbying office — an arrangement that troubles campaign-finance and tax experts. Federal election rules allow former elected officials to use surplus campaign money on charitable causes, though Mr. Torricelli's Rosemont Foundation, which received $1.5 million in campaign cash last year, has not yet been granted tax-exempt status. Angelo Genova, an attorney for Mr. Torricelli, said the foundation's application...

The Rockefellers and Iran: Jay Rockefeller’s Reversal and the Iranian-American LobbyBy Fedora In 1979, Rockefeller representatives launched an unsuccessful operation to lobby the Carter administration in support of the Shah of Iran, who was seeking safe haven in the wake of a coup by Islamic revolutionaries. Codenamed Project Alpha, the operation was spearheaded by Chase Manhattan Bank Chairman David Rockefeller and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, with support from oil lobby lawyer John McCloy. Although Project Alpha won the support of National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski, it met opposition from Secretary of State Cyrus Vance and failed to win...

New Jersey, dominated by Democrats in recent elections, has become the best Republican prospect for winning a Democratic-held Senate seat this year. New polls last week indicated appointive Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez falling back to an even race with his Republican challenger, state Sen. Tom Kean Jr. Quinnipiac University's poll showed Kean gaining nine percentage points in one month to take a two-point lead. The Monmouth University/Gannett poll's first Senate survey had Kean trailing Menendez by one point, but enjoying a 15-point lead among key independent voters. Kean's edge in the Quinnipiac survey marked the first time a New Jersey...

Charles Kushner, the Port Authority commissioner who is New Jersey Governor James McGreevey’s choice to be the agency’s next chairman, may soon find the dreaded appellation "embattled" attached to his name. Mr. Kushner is facing a whistle-blower lawsuit that could jeopardize his appointment to head the Port Authority—an appointment he doubtless helped to secure through generous contributions to New Jersey Democrats. He was the single largest donor to Mr. McGreevey’s campaign fund last year; to Hillary Clinton’s in 2000 and 2001; and to Senator Robert Torricelli’s in 1999 and 2001. Kushner companies collectively provided the largest bundle of contributions to...

The US Senate is looking into allegations that a former US senator urged Baghdad to give a US company lucrative contracts under the much-criticised United Nations oil-for-food programme. This is the first time that a leading US lawmaker has been linked to the controversial UN programme, whose shortcomings have been an important element of the Bush administration's critique of the UN. The investigation involves one of the most vivid figures in US east coast politics, former senator Robert Torricelli, a New Jersey Democrat who was forced to pull out of the 2002 election after being "severely admonished" by the Senate...

Notwithstanding former President Jimmy Carter's recent statement to the contrary, Undersecretary of State John Bolton's remarks about Cuba's biological weapons capabilities underscore lingering concerns with the rogue island only 90 miles from the United States. Bolton, on May 6, told an audience at the Washington, D.C.-based Heritage Foundation that the U.S. is suspicious about Cuban biomedical laboratories and their ability to transfer biological weapons technology to Iraq, Syria and Libya, all countries that Cuban President Fidel Castro visited last year. Bolton also made remarks, which may be interpreted as a clear signal of hardening State Department policy toward Cuba, faulting...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 2 — State polls showing that more than half a dozen Senate seats were still within either party's grasp prompted Republicans and Democrats today to intensify their feverish campaigns for control of the chamber. Seeking to influence the truly undecided voters — and to make sure those who have made up their minds go to the polls — both parties marshaled volunteers to ring doorbells and hand out leaflets. They also paraded big-name politicians and star-quality supporters before the cameras and drowned out commercials for consumer goods with advertisements extolling their candidates and assailing their opponents. Politicians and...

Ordinarily, Minnesota and New Jersey have little in common other than a mutual penchant for liberal politics. This year, however, it seems they share a mutual problem: the hasty departure of incumbent Democrat candidates for the Senate, necessitating replacements with name recognition with known political positions. To be fair, nobody could have predicted the untimely death of Sen. Paul Wellstone (D-Minn.), and in this case the need for a quick replacement is readily understood. But the Jersey Democrats should have seen it coming with regard to Sen. Robert Torricelli (D-N.J.). Toward the end, The Torch was carrying so much baggage...

As human beings, our natural instinct is to empathize with those who are at a low point, to extend a hand if they stumble and fall. Only the worst among us -- crooked cops, bad-guy wrestlers or Paulie Walnuts -- enjoy the idea of kicking a guy when he's down. But Robert Torricelli is making it very hard to resist the temptation to kick his butt -- even when he's on all fours. His self-serving, teary-eyed, "I've-been-done-wrong" speech announcing the end of his reelection bid was enough to curdle even the sweetest milk of human kindness. "There are times...

<p>Locked in a heated re-election bid and facing mounting questions about his ethics, the senior senator from New Jersey was expected at a Hoboken Arts Festival last Sunday afternoon.</p> <p>He never showed.</p> <p>Torricelli was at his New Brunswick headquarters, reviewing results of an internal poll tracking his re-election prospects. The news was grim. Torricelli's support was collapsing, and he trailed by double digits.</p>

You know a politician has stayed too long at the fair when a wide range of folks feels free to josh amiably about the practicality of his demise. That's what happened when sleazebag Robert Torricelli of New Jersey announced he was bowing out of an increasingly unwinnable re-election race in an effort to help save his Democrats' one-vote margin in the U.S. Senate. Republicans quickly offered up a legal memo arguing that the only way under Garden State law that Torricelli could be replaced on the ballot this late in the campaign was if he died. Democrats believe they have...

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THE POSSIBILITIES are endless. In California, it's said any Republican could defeat Democratic governor Gray Davis--except the guy who won the GOP primary, Bill Simon. So if Simon drops out, Republicans could install The Terminator, a popular GOP figure better known as Arnold Schwarzenegger, as their gubernatorial candidate. In Arkansas, where Tim Hutchinson is in deep reelection peril, Republicans could name his brother, Asa, now head of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, as his replacement. His election prospects would be brighter, thus improving GOP chances of taking the Senate on November 5. Or in Illinois, where Republican Jim Ryan is...

TRENTON, N.J. -- State and national Democratic leaders were negotiating with U.S. Sen. Robert Torricelli to end his re-election campaign after months of news about illegal campaign donations and unethical behavior, sources said Monday. Torricelli is considering pulling out of the race, sources told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. Torricelli's public-approval ratings have taken a beating all year, and recent polls have showed him trailing Republican challenger Douglas Forrester, a startling predicament for any congressional incumbent. A Star-Ledger/Eagleton-Rutgers poll released this weekend showed Forrester leading by 13 percentage points. In June, the same poll had Torricelli leading by...

Democrats face an uphill battle to recapture control of the House in November's midterm elections, while Republicans have marginally improved their position in what remains a tense and wide-open fight for control of the Senate, according to party strategists, independent analysts and current polls. September has seen Republican prospects brighten, particularly in New Jersey, where ethics problems have called into question what once seemed solid reelection prospects for Sen. Robert G. Torricelli, the most vulnerable Democrat in the nation. Republicans also have increased their chances of retaining the Senate seat in New Hampshire. And because of a controversy over a...

Filed at 12:01 p.m. ET WASHINGTON (AP) -- Sen. Robert Torricelli of New Jersey said Saturday that lawmakers who are focused on the war on terrorism must also be vigilant about the nation's mounting economic problems. Torricelli, considered the most vulnerable Democratic senator facing re-election this year because of continuing questions about his ethics and honesty, made his remarks in his party's weekly radio address. He said that while politicians in Washington debate how best to fight terrorism, they need to keep in mind that the nation's security extends beyond physical safety. ``As families across the nation sit down at...

Winds of war stirring U.S. Senate races Candidates have difficulty gauging how Iraq will affect election 09/28/2002 By DAVID JACKSON / The Dallas Morning News INDIANOLA, Iowa As 2,000 of U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin's best Democratic friends swayed to the beat of a country band and munched on Iowa beef, the prospect of war with Saddam Hussein seemed as far away as Iraq itself. Certainly Mr. Harkin hopes so. Hosting his annual steak fry at a farm country fairground, the Democrat seeking his fourth Senate term said voters know that both parties will do whatever they can to protect...

MONTCLAIR, N.J. — Chip Casto is a reliable Democrat, unable to recall ever voting for a Republican. When he considered registering as an independent years ago, said Mr. Casto, 36, his parents would not hear of it. But his party affiliation is not making his choice in the United States Senate race in New Jersey an easy one. Mr. Casto, a teacher, cites "the incident" — the Senate Ethics Committee's rebuke of Senator Robert G. Torricelli for improperly accepting gifts — and says "that initial impression is hard to get over." He is still deciding whether to vote for Mr....