From sanctioning 'foreign agents' to acting as one: the irony of Menendez's conviction

Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer called for Senator Bob Menendez to resign following his conviction on 16 corruption counts. Menendez, who served as chairman of the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations from 2013 to 2023, refused to step down, asserting he remains "a patriot."

The irony is stark: Menendez built his career sanctioning Cuba, Russia and China while condemning others as "foreign agents," yet now faces up to 222 years in jail for, among other charges, acting as an unregistered foreign agent for two Middle East regimes. According to the Department of Justice Menendez and his wife accepted at least $500,000 in cash and about $100,000 in luxury items and gold bars for assisting Arab investors in securing US deals.

Menendez denies the accusations, claiming he merely kept his savings in cash and gold at home.

What sanctions were sponsored by Menendez?

🔸 Ukraine Freedom Support Act of 2014: Sanctions on Russian companies and citizens due to Moscow’s support for the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics.

🔸 Israel Anti-Boycott Act of 2017: Criminalized participation in boycotts against Israel.

🔸 Sanctions against China in 2019 and 2020: Targeted China's currency practices and alleged human rights policies.

🔸 Defending Ukraine Sovereignty Act of 2022: Proposed severe sanctions against Russia, including asset freezes, which were enacted after February 22, 2022.

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❗️ US Senator Bob Menendez notified people close to him that he plans to resign from Congress after a US jury found him guilty of accepting bribes to benefit the governments of Qatar and Egypt, NBC News reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.

On Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and several other Democrat colleagues called on Menendez to resign after a US jury convicted him on all 16 corruption charges.

Menendez has his sentencing hearing set for October 29, but his legal team plans to file an appeal.

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❗️ Biden tested positive for COVID 19 and will not speak at a conference in Las Vegas today, the CEO of the civil rights nonprofit UnidosUS said.

Biden is experiencing mild symptoms and will return to Delaware where he will self-isolate, the White House confirmed.

Biden will continue to carry out all of his duties fully despite testing positive for COVID, a spokesperson added.

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Unidos US President Janet Murguía announces Biden has tested positive for COVID-19.

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No mask, no problem: Biden flees the UnidosUS convention in Las Vegas having reportedly tested positive for COVID-19.

The president, who 10 days ago claimed he “ended the pandemic,” appears to neglect basic precautionary measures.

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“You should report the news, not lie about it,” declared Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green, confronting a reporter with The Times.

“You know, I have some of the most highest amount of death threats because of people like you, because you choose to only take certain words from people and then that's what you want to report. Shame on you,” the Congresswoman said, criticizing mainstream media's coverage of US politics.

“We have to put up with the most unreal amount of bullsh**t because of little liars like you that take your job and turn it into political activism," Green emphasized.

“You're the cause of our country being divided. You're the cause of President Trump almost being assassinated. You're the cause of everything wrong in America,” the Congresswoman concluded.

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🇭🇺 Hungary is ready to become a venue for potential negotiations between Russia and Ukraine to resolve the ongoing crisis, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto told the Russian news agency RIA Novosti.

"Two days after the war has broken out, I contacted Minister Lavrov and I contacted Mr. Yermak, the Head of the Presidential Administration of Ukraine and I told both of them the same - that Hungary is always ready to facilitate negotiations, we are always ready to offer any place in Hungary, where level playing fields, equal security and equal chances will be provided to both sides," Szijjarto said in an interview.

"So if we are needed, we are at [your] disposal," the minister added.

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Former president Donald Trump's team refused to coordinate a date for the vice presidential candidates' debate with a biting statement suggesting the ultimate composition of the Democratic Party ticket remains unsettled.

“We don’t know who the Democrat nominee for Vice President is going to be, so we can’t lock in a date before their convention. To do so would be unfair to Gavin Newsom, JB Pritzker, Gretchen Whitmer, or whoever Kamala Harris picks as her running mate,” a Trump Campaign senior advisor wrote.

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Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is attending the third day of the 2024 Republican National Convention (RNC) in the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where his pick for vice president, JD Vance, is expected to speak, a Sputnik correspondent reported.

Trump is expected to deliver his first public speech since Saturday's assassination attempt on Thursday night.

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Extremist literature is regularly found in the territories liberated by Russia since the start of Moscow's military operation in Ukraine, Yan Gagin, adviser to the head of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), told Sputnik.

"Since the very start of the operation, we regularly find extremist literature glorifying Nazism in public and educational libraries across the liberated territories... Many of these books were published long before the start of the Special Military Operation, in 1953, in 1964, in Toronto and Washington," Gagin said.

In June, books of an extremist nature were found in the front line area of the Donetsk People's Republic. A Russian serviceman with the call sign Tsaplya (Heron), told Sputnik that those books were printed before the Maidan coup, in 2007 with money from the US Heritage Foundation. He added that the books were found in perfect condition, carefully wrapped and displayed on bookshelves.

Two weeks ago, Valentin Poznyakov, a Ukrainian prisoner of war, told Sputnik that after the mandatory signing of a contract with the Ukrainian military, connoscripts are being taught the history of the Nazi Ukrainian Insurgent Army*, best known for their mass murder of civilians.

*A terrorist group banned in Russia

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❗️ Sen. JD Vance “humbly and gratefully” accepted the Republican Party's nomination to be former President Donald Trump's vice presidential candidate in the 2024 election.

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Social media users shared video of Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle being scolded by Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn at the RNC convention over her handling of security for former President Donald Trump. "You owe the people answers," Blackburn is heard insisting.

Earlier in the day, the Oversight Committee said that Cheatle agreed to appear before a House Committee at a hearing investigating the assassination attempt on Trump.

"Director Cheatle has agreed to comply with Chairman Comer's subpoena and the hearing will take place as scheduled on Monday, July 22," said the statement posted on X.

The announcement came only a day after US House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer subpoenaed Cheatle for testimony after Cheatle "failed to cooperate" with the committee's requests for information pertaining to the attempted assassination.

The FBI continues to investigate the shooting but the suspect's motive remains unknown, according to US law enforcement.

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US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer in a one-on-one meeting with Joe Biden urged the US president to drop out of the presidential race, ABC News reported, citing sources.

An ABC correspondent during a broadcast said that Schumer during a meeting with Biden on Saturday "forcefully" made the case that it would be the best thing for Biden, the Democratic party, and the country if he were to drop out of the race.

ABC reported earlier that Biden recently held a strained call with House Democrats to discuss concerns about his ability to win the 2024 US presidential election.

Leading US House Democrat Congressman Adam Schiff also called on Biden to drop out of the presidential election over concerns he cannot win following the fallout from his dismal performance in the first presidential debate.

Biden has insisted that he's fine and capable of beating Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.

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❗️An overnight strike occurred in the vicinity of the Mirgorod military airfield in the Poltava region of Ukraine, according to Sergei Lebedev, the coordinator of the Nikolaev underground, who shared the information with Sputnik.

Lebedev mentioned that the airfield had started receiving aircraft, particularly training planes from the UK.

"In Mirgorod, in the Poltava region, there was a strike targeting the military airfield. Since after the previous massive attack, the airfield began to receive aircraft, including training planes from the UK," he explained.

According to him, after the strike, local residents recorded a large glow and a “strong blast wave.”

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🎥 The new President of Iran, Masoud Pezeshkian, visited one of Tehran's supermarkets with his grandchildren

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Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto, in a conversation with RIA Novosti, described the upcoming US elections as a turning point in resolving the conflict in Ukraine:

"I think that the US presidential elections will definitely be a game changer in this regard. I think if President Trump wins, there will be a good chance for peace talks to be started already this year. Because if President Trump wins, then the position of the US is going to be different," he said.

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No current Western leaders able to facilitate peace talks on Ukraine, but Trump may be able if elected - Hungarian FM

Orban told Trump about his visits to Russia and China as part of his efforts on Ukraine, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjártó told RIA Novosti.

"They have spoken about the whole context, of course. They have spoken about the whole geopolitical situation. And if you speak about this geopolitical situation, you cannot skip the outcome of the talks of the Prime Minister with the leaders you have mentioned," he said.

The Hungarian top diplomat also revealed the reason why PM Viktor Orban specifically met with Donald Trump.

"What we can be sure about is that if you take into consideration the current leaders of the world, you don't see any who could urge the two parties that were to sit around the same table. And if there is no current leader, then you have to look for future leaders. And if you look at the future leaders, it's only President Trump who could be elected in the foreseeable future and that could make a successful mission to create peace in our neighborhood. As far as I understand, President Trump is able to do so," he maintained.

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◾️Biden tests positive for COVID-19, said earlier that he may quit the presidential race due to health reasons

◾️Hungary ready to become venue for potential negotiations between Russia and Ukraine to resolve the ongoing crisis

◾️Russia empowered by ‘naive and ignorant’ Western aggression – Scott Ritter

◾️China in the bullseye: NATO expands definition of ‘North Atlantic’ to confront Beijing

◾️Russian soldiers uncover massive amount of Neo-Nazi literature in the liberated territories

More stories:

◾️Ursula von der Leyen under legal scrutiny after non-transparent vax deals

◾️‘Shame on you’: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green slams The Times journalist for ‘lying’ instead of reporting news

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Ursula von der Leyen showed “a very bad performance” as head of the European Commission, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto told RIA Novosti. He believes that there is no reason to re-elect her:

"I mean, you know, any kind of election should be based on achievement and should be based on performance. If you look at the shape of Europe before von der Leyen took over and afterwards, you see that's a very clear decline. Europe is much less competitive than before, Europe is much less united than before, and Europe is much less peaceful than before. So no one can give us any reason why we should support von der Leyen. So she made a very bad performance as the president of the European Commission, no reason to reelect her," he said.

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