Rich in gold bars but poor in Trump pardons
Now Menendez is reporting to federal prison, beginning his 11-year sentence after these months of attempts to sweet-talk Trump failed to win him the pardon or commutation for which he appeared to be angling. That's even as other allies of the president and those who had cozied up to him saw their prosecutions and sentences dropped.
The 71-year-old Menendez, who spent more than 30 years in the House and later the Senate and rose to become the Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman, resigned in disgrace last year after being convicted of accepting bribes — including gold bars, a Mercedes-Benz and cash — in exchange for helping three businessmen and the Egyptian government.
He arrived on Tuesday to the Federal Correctional Institution Schuylkill in Minersville, Pennsylvania.
Nine days after Trump's inauguration — the day Menendez was sentenced — the former senator tagged the president in a social media post in which he claimed that 'this whole process has been nothing but a political witch hunt.'
'President Trump is right. This process is political and has been corrupted to the core. I hope President Trump cleans up the cesspool and restores integrity to the system,' Menendez said.
Last week, he again took to X and lambasted prosecutors in a series of posts he titled 'How weaponization works.' He noted that the US attorney for the Southern District of New York — the office that prosecuted Menendez — also oversaw 'investigations of the Trump organization, the Trump inauguration committee and others associated with DJT and the Republican Party.'
Meanwhile, the Trump administration has gutted the federal government's ability to fight public corruption, shrinking its public integrity section — created in the wake of the Watergate scandal — and stripping it of much of its power.
The start of Menendez's prison sentence comes after a federal appeals court last week denied his bid to remain out of prison on bail as he appeals his conviction. A judge did allow Menendez to attend his stepdaughter's wedding in Massachusetts over the weekend and to escort his wife, Nadine Menendez, who was also convicted on corruption charges and is undergoing treatment for breast cancer. (Her own sentencing will take place in September.)
The president has issued a flurry of pardons and halted prosecutions for his political allies.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who was elected as a Democrat and is seeking reelection this year as an independent, saw his corruption charges dropped by Trump's Justice Department, as Adams helped the Trump administration enact its immigration agenda.
Trump in February pardoned former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, a Democrat who was removed from office and later convicted of charges that included a scheme to sell an appointment to fill the vacant Senate seat left by then-President Barack Obama. Blagojevich long sought to align himself with Trump and called himself a 'Trumpocrat' — a Democrat who supports Trump.
Trump has also pardoned a long list of political allies — including nearly all of the January 6, 2021, defendants.
Trump pardoned reality television stars Todd and Julie Chrisley, who were serving prison sentences following their 2022 conviction on fraud and tax charges, after their daughter, Savannah Chrisley, cozied up to the Trump family and appeared at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
'No MAGA left behind,' Ed Martin, Trump's short-lived interim US attorney for Washington, DC, said on X after Trump pardoned a former Virginia sheriff, Scott Jenkins, who was convicted of conspiracy, honest services fraud and — just like Menendez — bribery.
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Amanda Knox knows she's the story. Becoming a mom made her ready to tell it onscreen, on her own terms.
"For better or for worse, I'm carrying her legacy alongside mine," Knox says of her former roommate Meredith Kercher. Most people reconnect with former classmates at milestone reunions. Maybe they meet for an occasional coffee when they're back in their hometown. When I saw Amanda Knox for the first time since our high school graduation, our reconnection was a little different. There we were, talking face-to-face over Zoom about Hulu's new scripted series The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox, inspired by 16 pivotal years of her life. Knox was keeping a low profile when our 10-year reunion came around in Seattle in 2015, afraid to be in public spaces. She had just learned that Italy's high court would finally bring some closure to a case that began in 2007, when she was arrested on a charge of murder in the death of 21-year-old Meredith Kercher, her roommate while studying abroad in Perugia. 'The first letters that I ever got in prison were from people from [our high school],' she tells me, her voice softening as we begin our conversation. 'I'm going to get emotional right now, because everyone else in my life — my parents, my college friends — they were all just like, 'Oh, Amanda's going to get out any day now.' But I think [our school] had this sort of established sense of how to respond to a crisis, and we're going to do it collectively. Like, we know this girl. To receive those messages when I was in the middle of this insane story that was blowing up around me? That was a huge relief.' To call her story insane is an understatement. Knox was convicted of murder and spent four years in prison before she was acquitted in 2011. The case took several twists: In 2014, an appeals court reversed that acquittal and reconvicted her. That second guilty verdict, for Knox and her ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, was thrown out in 2015 by Italy's highest court, ending the legal saga. Rudy Guede, whose DNA was found at the crime scene, remains the only person convicted of Kercher's murder. Through it all, Knox says, her story was often misrepresented, both in the media and by the public. The Hulu series, which premieres on Aug. 20, is her attempt to tell it herself onscreen. The Lewinsky effect The series itself came together at a pivotal moment in Knox's life. She had just given birth to daughter Eureka in 2021 and was struggling with how to reconcile the trauma she had endured with her new role as a mother. 'I was sitting with this feeling of needing to be OK,' Knox says, explaining she had to confront her past to avoid 'consciously or unconsciously passing on this dark cloud that had been hovering over me onto my children.' (She also shares son Echo with husband Christopher Robinson.) She began corresponding with Giuliano Mignini, the lead prosecutor who worked for years to get both her and Sollecito locked up. The two have since formed an unlikely friendship, and Knox says she's forgiven him. This is a big plot point in The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox, a show that wouldn't have happened if it weren't for a different, unexpected friendship Knox formed with Monica Lewinsky. Knox first met Lewinsky in 2017, when she was feeling 'very small and diminished' and that people still didn't believe in her innocence. The two bonded immediately. 'Monica had been reduced to a punch line, just like I had,' Knox says. 'Seeing how she emerged, speaking out, writing, advocating — it made me realize there was a path forward for my own story.' Lewinsky reached out to Knox shortly after Eureka was born. '[Monica] said, 'I think it's time to tell your story. I know you want to on your own terms and in your own way. We can do it together.'' Knox wrote her first memoir, Waiting to Be Heard, in 2013, and her second book, Free: My Search for Meaning, came out in March. But a scripted series is a different challenge, offering a chance to show the emotional nuances and psychological complexity that words alone can't always capture. With Lewinsky's guidance, Knox finally felt ready. 'She wasn't just like, 'Here's a horrible thing that happened to a girl and here's a courtroom drama.' It's a more personal story of who you were before a traumatic event enters your life, and who you are after. How do you make sense of it? What do you do to reclaim a sense of ownership over your own life? That's what the [show] is about,' Knox, who produced the series alongside Lewinsky, says. 'That's why we frame it the way we do in the show: I'm going back to Italy to confront my prosecutor.' Aside from Lewinsky, Knox credits creator and showrunner K.J. Steinberg for guiding the series with sensitivity and ensuring the story was told with both accuracy and heart. '[Steinberg] completely understood the stakes. Her vision meshed with my own, and we were able to create this story together that was not just a rehashing of a terrible thing,' Knox says. 'It was something that honored all the people involved ... I feel really lucky to be on this journey with so many incredibly talented people who want to get it right.' Facing the shadow After Kercher was found dead, police interrogated Knox for a total of 53 hours over five days. Part of the prosecution's evidence against her was a signed confession, which she says was the result of coercive tactics. For Knox, one of the most emotionally charged sequences in the series centers on the interrogation. It was a scene she was 'really concerned' about. 'A lot of people have mistaken notions about what an interrogation is really like,' she says. 'You think of CSI, but really, these things happen behind closed doors. Those of us who enter into them are unprepared because we don't know how it really works.' The scene depicting the questioning is condensed but powerful. 'I had to show a version that still trails the psychological journey both I and my interrogators were on. They're convincing themselves of a story while trying to convince me to submit to it. That was crucial. As someone now who's an advocate for criminal justice reform, I want people to viscerally understand that experience,' Knox says. The weight of that scene hit her hard, even during production. 'I watched when we filmed it. It was over and over, 10 hours a day for two days, from all different angles. By the time we were done, I just wept — not just because I was triggered, but because I was relieved that we had gotten it right,' she says. As an executive producer, Knox had significant creative input, including a say in casting and cowriting the series finale. 'Isn't Grace Van Patten stunning? She was so good,' Knox says of the actress who plays her. 'She could bring in the whimsy, the gravitas and the heart.' While it was crucial for Knox that Van Patten nail the facets of her personality, equally important was capturing the depth and vulnerability of Knox as a mother. It's a role that has shaped how she has approached every decision in the past four years. When Knox gave birth to Eureka, the first words she said to her daughter were: 'I'm sorry. I'm sorry I'm your mom.' Knox is used to living with a shadow, and she knows that shadow will follow her kids as well. Millions of people still assume she's guilty of a crime she was acquitted of, and one day, her kids will read all about it online. 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Newsom's proposed redistricting would split Simi Valley from the rest of Ventura County
If California voters approve the new congressional maps that appear headed for the November ballot, Simi Valley will get a new U.S. House representative next year. Simi Valley's representation in Washington, D.C. is not top of mind for Gov. Gavin Newsom and other Sacramento Democrats. Their goal is to add a few seats to the 43-9 advantage Democrats already hold in the California House delegation, countering the Republican-led redistricting in Texas and giving Democrats a better chance of controlling the House next year. To that end, the proposed district maps introduced in the State Assembly on Aug. 18 carve up some currently safe Republican districts and tweak some Democratic ones to make them safer. The two districts that cover most of Ventura County are considered fairly safe for Democrats, and both would remain largely unchanged. The 24th District, currently held by Santa Barbara Democrat Salud Carbajal, stays the same under the map that Newsom wants to put on the ballot. It includes the city of Ventura and the Ojai Valley, along with all of Santa Barbara County and some of San Luis Obispo County. Julia Brownley, a Democrat from Westlake Village, represents the rest of Ventura County in the 26th District. Under the proposed redistricting, most of that district would stay the same, but the city of Simi Valley would be cut from its southeastern edge. Instead, Brownley's district would extend northeast into the high desert, all the way to the outskirts of Lancaster and Palmdale. Simi Valley would be added to the 32nd District, which is now represented by Brad Sherman, a Democrat from the San Fernando Valley. In addition to Simi Valley, the district would include part of the San Fernando Valley and all of Malibu and Pacific Palisades. A statewide election is necessary to draw new maps because in 2010, California voters approved a constitutional amendment that gave redistricting authority to an independent, nonpartisan commission. Newsom's plan is to ask voters to set aside the commission's maps until for the next three congressional elections, then go back to the commission to draw maps after the 2030 census. Herb Gooch, a professor emeritus of political science at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, said he doesn't think the new district map would change much for Simi Valley residents. They are represented by a Democrat now, and in all likelihood, they will be represented by a different Democrat if voters approve the governor's redistricting plan. "I don't know that it fundamentally changes the dynamics," Gooch said. "Julia's district is pretty safe, but Brad's is even safer. You're probably pretty much used to it if you're in Simi Valley." Simi Valley is the only city in Ventura County with more Republicans than Democrats. But for more than a decade — ever since Republican Elton Gallegly retired from Congress in 2012 — Simi Valley has either been represented by a Democrat, or it's been separated from the rest of Ventura County to fall into a district represented by a far-off Republican. "I don't know why, but it seems like Simi Valley is the area that always gets stuck in the middle," said Barbra Williamson, a Republican who served on the Simi Valley City Council from 1992 to 2012. "We get carved out every single time," said Leanna Brand, a Democrat and the leader of the liberal group Indivisible Simi Valley. "We know it. We expect it." Brand said she doesn't think Simi Valley was well served from before 2023, when it was part of a district that included Santa Clarita and Palmdale. Mike Garcia, a Republican who represented the district from 2020 to 2022, was focused on the Santa Clarita Valley and "did absolutely nothing for us," she said. Brand said it seems "a little less logical" to put Simi Valley in a district with Malibu, Topanga Canyon, Pacific Palisades and the more upscale parts of the San Fernando Valley, but she doesn't think it will change much about the city's representation. The only exception, she said, might be if Sherman is laser-focused on helping Pacific Palisades rebuild from the fire and doesn't pay much attention to the new part of his district. Williamson said she thinks Newsom's redistricting plan is "a terrible idea," while Brand sees it as a necessary move to counter Republican gerrymandering in other states. "We've got to play hardball at this point," Brand said. "But it's temporary." The question, Gooch said, is whether California voters will see it that way. The ballot measure to let the independent commission draw congressional districts passed with more than 60% of the vote, and the concept still polls well. "It might be harder to pull off than the governor thinks," Gooch said. "We've spent a lot of time educating people about having a neutral commission, and a lot of people are pretty proud about what's been done." Tony Biasotti is an investigative and watchdog reporter for the Ventura County Star. Reach him at tbiasotti@ This story was made possible by a grant from the Ventura County Community Foundation's Fund to Support Local Journalism. This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Newsom's redistricting plan would move Simi Valley to new district Solve the daily Crossword
