Dem
51
GOP
49
Donald Trump is not the only (alleged) crook currently at risk of facing the music for his (alleged) crooked activities. For a quartet of less-than-upright political figures, this was not a great weekend.
We'll start with the Democrat on the list, New Jersey senator Bob Menendez. His federal corruption trial begins today. Actually, make that his second federal corruption trial. He beat the rap the first time on a technicality, and the lesson he learned from that was... apparently nothing. For a guy who says he did nothing wrong, the feds have an awfully long list of goods he received (that were found in his residence) and duties he performed for the Egyptian government and others. If the Senator escapes this unscathed, he'll be in competition with Trump for the title of Teflon Man of the Year, 2024.
And now the Republicans. Remember back in 1952, when Richard Nixon's career was nearly destroyed by allegations that he used campaign funds for personal expenses? Tricky Dick managed to save his career, thanks significantly to his dog Checkers, so that he could destroy it later. Still, the lesson there would seem to be "don't dip your hand into the cookie jar, because the authorities are watching closely." Quite a few members of Congress over the years did not learn the lesson, however, and it seems like a member gets popped every few years for this very crime.
The latest entry on the list might be Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX), who is best known for being a Trump sycophant, including writing the book The Big Fraud: What Democrats Don't Want You to Know about January 6, the 2020 Election, and a Whole Lot Else. Should you wish to pick up a copy, it's priced to move on Amazon, presumably since they will need to make room for all the books about how the 2024 election was rigged (see above). Anyhow, Nehls is now being investigated by the House Ethics Committee for an alleged scheme in which the Nehls campaign rented office space in a building owned by... Troy Nehls. The inquiry has been underway for a couple of months, reportedly, and so we may soon learn if Nehls is sanctioned and/or if the feds decide to pick up on this.
Moving along, Steve Bannon has thus far been able to do what Peter Navarro could not: avoid being punished for ignoring a House subpoena. His luck may soon run out, however, as his conviction for contempt of Congress was upheld by a three-judge panel DC Circuit Court of Appeals. The trio, which included one appointee each from Joe Biden, Donald Trump and Barack Obama, unanimously rejected each and every argument that Bannon's lawyers made as to why his conviction is unfair, why he shouldn't have to follow the rules, etc. At this point, he can ask for a full en banc hearing, or he can go to the Supreme Court. He may not be granted cert at either level, and even if he does get another bite at the apple, he's got no legal legs to stand on. So, he's mostly just delaying his stay as a guest of Uncle Sam, if he keeps fighting, while burning through tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees.
And finally, this isn't exactly a legal matter, but it's adjacent, we would say. It would seem that, despite being warned many times, Rudy Giuliani made one too many false claims about the 2020 election on his WABC radio show. So, his show was canceled, and he was suspended from appearances on the station. There goes another $400,000 a year in income. On his way out the door, Giuliani said he's going to sue, because his First Amendment rights have been violated. Good luck getting a lawyer to take that one, Rudy, especially given that you can't afford to pay a retainer.
Who knows what is going on with America's Former Mayor. Maybe he's a True Believer who is determined to go down with the ship, consequences be damned. It's also entirely possible that there's something wrong with him cognitively, and that he no longer fully grasps the distinction between reality and fantasy. In any case, getting booted off one's radio show in 2024 for lies about an election that has been over for nearly 4 years is not going to be helpful in the various civil and criminal cases he is facing. He can hardly claim he didn't say those things, and he can't even claim that he initially believed the election was stolen, but that he changed his views, because clearly he did not. It's hard to think of any politician, across the entirety of American history, who has fallen so far so fast as Rudolph W. Giuliani. Maybe Aaron Burr, or Joseph McCarthy, or Nixon. (Z)