DOJ Details Case Against U.S. Senator Who Allegedly Took Bribes, Trafficked in Child Prostitution

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By Sarah Jorgensen and Laura Jarrett. Email correspondence, flight manifests, hotel bills, credit card statements and Federal Election Commission filings will all be deployed as evidence of an alleged bribery scheme carried out for seven years by Democratic New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez and an associate, according to a new brief filed by prosecutors in federal court Wednesday.

The outline of the Justice Department’s case came one week before the trial against Menendez and his co-defendant, Florida-based ophthalmologist Salomon Melgen, begins on September 6 in federal court in Newark, New Jersey. Menendez and Melgen have been charged with 18 counts of fraud and bribery crimes. Both have entered a plea of not guilty.

Menendez and Melgen are accused of having a “quid pro quo” relationship going as far back as 2006. Prosecutors say that in exchange for luxurious vacations and large donations to his campaign coffers, Menendez used his power to advocate for various personal and business interests of Melgen’s within the government.

Jurors will also hear from many different witnesses, including Menendez staffers, State Department officials and even pilots who flew the private jet Menendez allegedly flew on as a part of his lavish, Melgen-sponsored vacations. Prosecutors further signaled that they plan to introduce charts to summarize documents for the jury, writing that this will be the most efficient way to communicate the 20,000 pages of admissible evidence to the jury. (Read more from “DOJ Details Case Against U.S. Senator Who Allegedly Took Bribes, Trafficked in Child Prostitution” HERE)

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Department of Justice: ‘Corroborating Evidence’ Backs Underage Prostitution Allegations Against Senator Bob Menendez

By Matthew Boyle. The entire mainstream media bought repeated denials from Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) of allegations that he solicited underage prostitutes in the Dominican Republic, but now the Department of Justice says the allegations are in fact “corroborated.”

In a 65-page court filing released publicly on Monday evening, the DOJ laid out how their investigation into Menendez—and Democratic Party mega-donor Dr. Salomon Melgen—“began with serious and specific allegations involving child prostitution.” . . .

Later in the document, the DOJ lays out how even though the allegations of child prostitution against Menendez and Melgen have not resulted in criminal charges, such allegations have been “corroborated.” (Read more from “Department of Justice: ‘Corroborating Evidence’ Backs Underage Prostitution Allegations Against Senator Bob Menendez” HERE)

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Christie Calls Cruz ‘Disgusting’ for Telling ‘Reprehensible Lies’ Over Hurricane Relief

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New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie slammed Sen. Ted Cruz Wednesday morning over what he said was the Texas Republican’s double standard in opposing Superstorm Sandy relief but requesting federal aid for Texas after Hurricane Harvey.

“I have no sympathy for this — and I see Sen. Cruz and it’s disgusting to me that he stands in a recovery center with victims standing behind him as a backdrop,” he told CNN’s Chris Cuomo on “New Day.” “He’s still repeating the same reprehensible lies about what happened in Sandy (and) called on Congress Wednesday morning to work fast on a bill to aid Texas after Hurricane Harvey” . . .

“I’m sorry that there are politicians who are really desperate to get their names in the news and are saying whatever they need to do that,” Cruz said. “For folks who are focused on raising political shots and snipes about the Sandy bill, facts matter. And the fact is that the Sandy bill was over $50 billion and 70% of it was not emergency funding. Only 30% of the funding was emergency funding”. . .

[Christie responded], “Let me be very clear about this: Sen. Cruz was playing politics in 2012, trying to make himself look like the biggest conservative in the world. . . And what I said at the time, both to him and everybody else, was if you represent a coastal state, don’t do this because your day is going to come and you’re going to expect people to help you.” (Read more from “Christie Calls Cruz ‘Disgusting’ for Telling ‘Reprehensible Lies’ Over Hurricane Relief” HERE)

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Judge Orders IRS to Reveal Who Took Part in Tea Party Targeting

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A federal judge has ordered the Internal Revenue Service to release the names of specific employees involved in targeting Tea Party groups, after years of litigation over what conservatives have long called “chilling” behavior by one of the government’s “most feared” agencies.

Judge Reggie B. Walton of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia also said the IRS must provide information about which groups were targeted and why, along with a strategy to make sure such targeting doesn’t happen again.

The IRS is involved in multiple lawsuits with conservative groups related to the Tea Party targeting scandal; this particular case involves True the Vote.

“We’re thrilled the judge has taken this step and it feels good to have it recognized that they need to be held to account,” True the Vote President Catherine Engelbrecht told Fox News on Monday. “What happened to me was very personal—my name was thrown around the IRS, and the names of the people involved need to be known. What they did was criminal.”

The targeting scandal drew much attention in 2013 when the IRS, headed at the time by Lois Lerner, admitted it was applying extra scrutiny to conservative groups applying for nonprofit status. (Read more from “Judge Orders IRS to Reveal Who Took Part in Tea Party Targeting” HERE)

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Texas Woman’s Gospel Performance at Harvey Shelter Goes Viral

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A Texas woman’s gospel performance inside a shelter for Tropical Storm Harvey evacuees has gone viral after the impromptu performance lifted the spirits of people stranded away from home.

Although it is difficult to understand the full extent of damage from the monster storm until flood waters fully recede, at least 10,000 people have been rescued, more than 30,000 are in shelters and 20 people are reported dead.

Part of the 21-minute long performance was posted on Facebook by Joni Villemez-Comeaux, a volunteer at the Lone Star Convention and Expo Center north of Houston in Conroe. The video has been viewed over seven million times.

Victoria White, who works as an admissions counselor at Sam Houston State University, belted out songs with a few other evacuees, at one point singing “Spirit Break Out,” which was widely shared on social media. (Read more from “Texas Woman’s Gospel Performance at Harvey Shelter Goes Viral” HERE)

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General Mattis Says Trump’s Order on Transgender Troops Needs to Be ‘Studied’ Before Implementing

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Transgender troops can continue to serve pending a study and recommendation from Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, the Defense Department announced Tuesday.

The DoD has received Trump’s memorandum on transgender service members and will implement the president’s policy direction, according to a prepared statement from Mattis.

“As directed, we will develop a study and implementation plan, which will contain the steps that will promote military readiness, lethality, and unit cohesion, with due regard for budgetary constraints and consistent with applicable law,” Mattis said.

The Defense Department will work in consultation with the Department of Homeland Security and soon arriving senior government officials, according to Mattis.

“The implementation plan will address accessions of transgender individuals and transgender individuals currently serving in the United States military,” Mattis added. (Read more from “General Mattis Says Trump’s Order on Transgender Troops Needs to Be ‘Studied’ Before Implementing” HERE)

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Mysterious Jets Over Philly Were Actually Saudi Arabian Aircraft

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We’re learning more about the five planes flying in formation Monday night over the Philadelphia and South Jersey area.

A spokesperson for the FAA told KYW Newsradio on Monday that the group of jets flying in formation was a “military operation.” . . .

We now know they were Saudi Arabian aircraft headed back home by way of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in Burlington County, according to officials at the base.

A Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst spokeswoman says they were four fighter jets and a refueling tanker.

She says they were making a planned stop at the base after military exercises at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada. (Read more from “Mysterious Jets Over Philly Were Actually Saudi Arabian Aircraft” HERE)

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College Campus Flyer: Veterans Should Be Banned From Four-Year Universities — One Vet’s Powerful Response

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The University of Colorado at Colorado Springs apparently approved the posting of a newsletter around the campus that calls for the banning of U.S. military veterans from attending four-year colleges and universities . . .

Blogger Paul J. O’Leary, an Army and law enforcement veteran responded to the newsletter on Friday. In a lengthy post titled “An Open Letter to a UCCS Student,” he wrote, in part:

Isn’t it wonderful that we live in a country where all of us are free to express our opinions in a public forum? Where we are all free to pursue educational excellence? […]

Why do you feel it is acceptable to minimize the safety and well-being of those who attend trade schools? Are you assuming there are no LGBTQQIP2SAA students going to trade schools?

Do you feel they are somehow less deserving of a safe and flourishing educational environment than their peers in the traditional four-year universities?

(Read more from “College Campus Flyer: Veterans Should Be Banned From Four-Year Universities — One Vet’s Powerful Response” HERE)

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Trump ‘May Not Run’ Again as Republican

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With all sorts of disarray in the Republican Party and little progress in advancing its agenda, conservative powerhouse Rush Limbaugh is now wondering if President Donald Trump will run for re-election as a member of the GOP or create his own political party, perhaps known as the Trump Party.

Limbaugh says it’s more than obvious Republican leaders in Congress are not interested in helping Trump’s objectives . . .

“He’s sitting up there, and he’s not an idiot. He can see that the Republican Party is his primary obstacle,” said Limbaugh. “He knows this. It’s not the Democrats. The Democrats are doing what they would be expected to do.”

“What’s unexpected is for them to be joined by Republicans. So what does he do? Does he remain a Republican? Does he go independent? Does he come up with a Trump Party?”

“Does he run as a Republican or does he say, ‘This party isn’t going to exist. This party is killing itself. This party is eating itself. This party is committing suicide. I’m not gonna be a part of it.’?” (Read more from “Trump ‘May Not Run’ Again as Republican” HERE)

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Hormones Used to Cure Fear of Migrants?

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A group of researchers from Germany and the United States claims to have found at least a partial cure for xenophobia, a much heralded accomplishment in the wake of a historic migrant crisis that has swept more than 1.7 million Muslim refugees from the Middle East and Africa into Europe’s cities and led to fissures in social cohesion that some predict have sewn the seeds of civil war.

According to the researchers, the hormone drug oxytocin administered in combination with peer influence caused people inclined to have “negative attitudes” toward migrants to actually want to reach out and help them.

“Researchers have shown in a new study that the bonding hormone oxytocin together with social norms significantly increases the willingness to donate money to refugees in need, even in people who tend to have a skeptical attitude towards migrants,” the study concluded.

The experiment was carried out on three test groups by researchers at the University of Bonn Medical Center in cooperation with the Laureate Institute for Brain Research in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and the University of Lübeck in northern Germany. They conducted three experiments in which they tested a total of 183 subjects, who were all German natives. The subjects were asked to read about the needs of real-life refugee families and decide whether to donate money to them or to native German families with needs. (Read more from “Hormones Used to Cure Fear of Migrants?” HERE)

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Hillary Aide ‘Triggered’ by Flood-Rescue Image

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It didn’t take long for the politicization of the Texas floods to shift from First Lady Melania Trump’s high heels to the tried-and-true meme of the Confederate battle flag.

Logan Anderson, 24, a former digital strategist for the 2016 Hillary Clinton campaign, took to Twitter to vent over white men in an airboat rescuing black people trapped by Hurricane Harvey’s high water because the boat sported the “Southern Cross” – the battle flag of Confederate fighting men.

“Y’all, the Confederate flag crowd is helping black people evacuate in Houston,’ she tweeted, adding three skull emojis to her message.

“I would absolutely get on that boat, by the way. And then, when they dropped me off, I’d tear off the flag and drop it into the flood,” she said in a second tweet.

If Anderson did try to “tear off the flag,” she’d probably be disappointed, as the banner is painted on the airboat’s large rudder. (Read more from “Hillary Aide ‘Triggered’ by Flood-Rescue Image” HERE)

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