Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
With trump shutting down all these agencies and freezing funding all down the line, which I believe is the beginning of his effort to consolidate his power, I’m starting to wonder if the end game here is to basically strong arm 2/3 of congress into overturning the 22nd amendment. “You vote my way, you get (insert resource)”.
And since Trump would probably actually lose to Obama the 22nd Amendment is going to be amended to allow a third term but not three consecutive terms.
There was a time when I'd have thought this blatantly cherry picked language would be laughed out of possibility. That time has passed.
1995 Milwaukee 1998 Alpine, Alpine 2003 Albany, Boston, Boston, Boston 2004 Boston, Boston 2006 Hartford, St. Paul (Petty), St. Paul (Petty) 2011 Alpine, Alpine 2013 Wrigley 2014 St. Paul 2016 Fenway, Fenway, Wrigley, Wrigley 2018 Missoula, Wrigley, Wrigley 2021 Asbury Park 2022 St Louis 2023 Austin, Austin
With trump shutting down all these agencies and freezing funding all down the line, which I believe is the beginning of his effort to consolidate his power, I’m starting to wonder if the end game here is to basically strong arm 2/3 of congress into overturning the 22nd amendment. “You vote my way, you get (insert resource)”.
And since Trump would probably actually lose to Obama the 22nd Amendment is going to be amended to allow a third term but not three consecutive terms.
With trump shutting down all these agencies and freezing funding all down the line, which I believe is the beginning of his effort to consolidate his power, I’m starting to wonder if the end game here is to basically strong arm 2/3 of congress into overturning the 22nd amendment. “You vote my way, you get (insert resource)”.
And since Trump would probably actually lose to Obama the 22nd Amendment is going to be amended to allow a third term but not three consecutive terms.
With trump shutting down all these agencies and freezing funding all down the line, which I believe is the beginning of his effort to consolidate his power, I’m starting to wonder if the end game here is to basically strong arm 2/3 of congress into overturning the 22nd amendment. “You vote my way, you get (insert resource)”.
And since Trump would probably actually lose to Obama the 22nd Amendment is going to be amended to allow a third term but not three consecutive terms.
There was a time when I'd have thought this blatantly cherry picked language would be laughed out of possibility. That time has passed.
It’s worse. You can only serve 3 terms if you went one term, break them two more. You can’t go two, break, then third.
Zero chance though. This requires an amendment
That would be an impressive feat, even for someone with the pull of Trump. It's hard to put anything past the cowardly GOP and Dems at this time though. Elon will be threatening to fund the hell out of gubernatorial campaigns, etc.
It's still a longshot but the way that it's written is truly something to behold. All that's missing is a provision that your last name must start with the letter "T" and end with the letter "P."
1995 Milwaukee 1998 Alpine, Alpine 2003 Albany, Boston, Boston, Boston 2004 Boston, Boston 2006 Hartford, St. Paul (Petty), St. Paul (Petty) 2011 Alpine, Alpine 2013 Wrigley 2014 St. Paul 2016 Fenway, Fenway, Wrigley, Wrigley 2018 Missoula, Wrigley, Wrigley 2021 Asbury Park 2022 St Louis 2023 Austin, Austin
needs confirmation, but how do you confirm a leak? otherhand, thisxwas meant to cone out to gin up more outrage allowing for distraction for sone very nefarious shit. THAT seems on brand to me.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
With trump shutting down all these agencies and freezing funding all down the line, which I believe is the beginning of his effort to consolidate his power, I’m starting to wonder if the end game here is to basically strong arm 2/3 of congress into overturning the 22nd amendment. “You vote my way, you get (insert resource)”.
And since Trump would probably actually lose to Obama the 22nd Amendment is going to be amended to allow a third term but not three consecutive terms.
There was a time when I'd have thought this blatantly cherry picked language would be laughed out of possibility. That time has passed.
It’s worse. You can only serve 3 terms if you went one term, break them two more. You can’t go two, break, then third.
Zero chance though. This requires an amendment
We’ve been saying “zero chance” a lot since The Escalator that came true.
Not on a topic like this. First, it has to get 2/3 of each chamber to approve it and then 3/4 of each state. It can't get through the 2/3 let alone the 3/4.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
With trump shutting down all these agencies and freezing funding all down the line, which I believe is the beginning of his effort to consolidate his power, I’m starting to wonder if the end game here is to basically strong arm 2/3 of congress into overturning the 22nd amendment. “You vote my way, you get (insert resource)”.
And since Trump would probably actually lose to Obama the 22nd Amendment is going to be amended to allow a third term but not three consecutive terms.
There was a time when I'd have thought this blatantly cherry picked language would be laughed out of possibility. That time has passed.
It’s worse. You can only serve 3 terms if you went one term, break them two more. You can’t go two, break, then third.
Zero chance though. This requires an amendment
We’ve been saying “zero chance” a lot since The Escalator that came true.
Not on a topic like this. First, it has to get 2/3 of each chamber to approve it and then 3/4 of each state. It can't get through the 2/3 let alone the 3/4.
I know. I'm cautiously optimistic.
"Oh Canada...you're beautiful when you're drunk" -EV 8/14/93
needs confirmation, but how do you confirm a leak? otherhand, thisxwas meant to cone out to gin up more outrage allowing for distraction for sone very nefarious shit. THAT seems on brand to me.
After talking tough during campaign, Trump appears to ease up on China at start of presidency
1 of 6 |
President Donald Trump shakes hands with China’s President Xi Jinping during a meeting on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Osaka, Japan, June 29, 2019. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — On the campaign trail last year, President Donald Trump talked tough about imposing tariffs as high as 60% on Chinese goods and threatened to renew the trade war with China that he launched during his first term.
But now that he’s back in the White House, Trump appears to be seeking a more nuanced relationship with the country that both Republicans and Democrats have come to see as the gravest foreign policy challenge to the U.S. China is also a major trading partner and an economic powerhouse, and it has one of the world’s largest military forces.
“We look forward to doing very well with China and getting along with China,” Trump said Thursday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in comments that suggested Beijing could help end the war in Ukraine and reduce nuclear arms.
As he moves forward with plans to impose 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico on Feb. 1, Trump has not set a firm date for China. He’s only repeated his plan for a much lower 10% tax on Chinese imports in retaliation for China’s production of chemicals used in fentanyl. On Tuesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump was “very much still considering” raising tariffs on China on Feb. 1.
ADVERTISEMENT
Trump, who spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping days before taking office, seems to be showing restraint and bowing to a more complicated reality than he described while running for office. Speaking of potential tariffs on China in a recent Fox News interview, he said: “They don’t want them, and I’d rather not have to use it.”
Liu Yawei, senior adviser on China at the Carter Center in Atlanta, said Trump has become “more pragmatic.”
“The signaling, at least from the election to the inauguration, seems to be more positive than has been expected before,” Liu said. “Hopefully, this positive dynamic can be preserved and continued. Being more pragmatic, less ideological will be good for everyone.”
ADVERTISEMENT
A Chinese expert on American foreign policy acknowledged that there are many “uncertainties and unknowns about the future” of U.S.-China relations. But Da Wei, director of the Center for International Security and Strategy at Tsinghua University in Beijing, also said Trump’s recent change in tone offers “encouraging signals.”
In his first term, warm relations were followed by a trade war
When Trump first became president in 2017, Xi and Trump got off to a good start. Xi was invited to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. A few months later, he treated Trump to a personal tour of the Palace Museum in the heart of Beijing, only to see Trump launch the trade war the following year.
The U.S.-China relationship soured further over the COVID-19 pandemic, and it hardly improved during President Joe Biden’s administration, which saw a controversial visit to the self-governing island of Taiwan by then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and a Chinese spy balloon aloft over U.S. territory.
Biden kept Trump’s tariffs on Chinese goods and intensified the economic and technological rivalry with export controls, investment curbs and alliance building.
ADVERTISEMENT
Now it will be up to Trump’s top diplomat, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, to help chart a new path for the second term.
During his confirmation hearing, Rubio said China has “lied, cheated, hacked and stolen” its way to global superpower status “at our expense.” He called China “the most potent and dangerous near-peer adversary this nation has ever confronted.”
Hours after he was sworn in, Rubio met foreign ministers from Australia, Japan and India, sending signals that he would continue to work with the same group of countries that Biden elevated to blunt China’s expanding influence and aggression in the Indo-Pacific region.
Yet Rubio, who was twice sanctioned by Beijing and is known for his hawkish views on the Chinese Communist Party, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the U.S. should engage with China because “it’s in the interest of global peace and stability.”
In a Friday phone call, China’s veteran foreign minister issued a veiled warning to Rubio, telling him to behave. Wang Yi conveyed the message in their first conversation since Rubio’s confirmation.
ADVERTISEMENT
“I hope you will act accordingly,” Wang told Rubio, according to a Chinese Foreign Ministry statement that included a Chinese phrase typically used by a teacher or a boss warning a student or employee to be responsible for their actions. Rubio agreed to manage bilateral relations in a “mature and prudent” way, the ministry said.
Members of Congress have noted Trump’s seemingly softer attitude toward Beijing.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro, a Democrat from Connecticut, wants to ensure “that Trump does not let China off too easy.” She urged the president to act now on measures that have won broad bipartisan support, including closing a tariff loophole on low-value packages, reviewing outbound investments and setting up a domestic industrial policy agenda.
ADVERTISEMENT
Beijing seeks opportunities and stays ready to play tough
Beijing is seeking opportunities to create more breathing room in its relations with a U.S. president known for his transactional style. Chinese leaders are betting on engaging with Trump directly when his Cabinet members and advisers appear to hold clashing views.
Trump “is the most important person above all those different voices, and he can at least set the tone of future policy,” Da said.
The Tsinghua professor expects Trump and Xi to meet at some point. Effective communication channels will be crucial, Da said, to keep differences from spiraling out of control, as they did in Trump’s first term.
“The two presidents can have a good starting point. That’s very important,” he said. “But then we need to set up some mechanisms to let the cabinet-level members talk to each other.”
Beijing has also signaled a willingness to be flexible on the future of TikTok, which Trump sought to ban during his first administration. But he has now come to the social media app’s rescue, offering more time for its Chinese-based parent company to sell and downplaying TikTok’s national security risks.
After Trump said he preferred not to use tariffs on China, the Chinese Foreign Ministry echoed that trade and economic cooperation between the two countries are mutually beneficial.
But Beijing is also ready to play tough, if necessary, after learning a lesson from Trump’s first term.
Over the past several years, Beijing has adopted laws and rules that allow it to retaliate quickly and forcefully to any hostile act from the U.S. In its toolbox are tariffs, import curbs, export controls, sanctions, measures to limit companies from doing business in China and regulatory reviews aimed at inflicting pain on American businesses and the U.S. economy.
Miles Yu, director of the China Center at the Hudson Institute, said Trump is now “more nuanced, and more focused, towards China.”
“He’s keeping his eyes on the prize, which is to maintain U.S. supremacy without risking open and avoidable confrontation with China, while perfectly willing to walk away from the negotiation table and play the hardball,” Yu said.
After talking tough during campaign, Trump appears to ease up on China at start of presidency
1 of 6 |
President Donald Trump shakes hands with China’s President Xi Jinping during a meeting on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Osaka, Japan, June 29, 2019. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — On the campaign trail last year, President Donald Trump talked tough about imposing tariffs as high as 60% on Chinese goods and threatened to renew the trade war with China that he launched during his first term.
But now that he’s back in the White House, Trump appears to be seeking a more nuanced relationship with the country that both Republicans and Democrats have come to see as the gravest foreign policy challenge to the U.S. China is also a major trading partner and an economic powerhouse, and it has one of the world’s largest military forces.
“We look forward to doing very well with China and getting along with China,” Trump said Thursday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in comments that suggested Beijing could help end the war in Ukraine and reduce nuclear arms.
As he moves forward with plans to impose 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico on Feb. 1, Trump has not set a firm date for China. He’s only repeated his plan for a much lower 10% tax on Chinese imports in retaliation for China’s production of chemicals used in fentanyl. On Tuesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump was “very much still considering” raising tariffs on China on Feb. 1.
ADVERTISEMENT
Trump, who spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping days before taking office, seems to be showing restraint and bowing to a more complicated reality than he described while running for office. Speaking of potential tariffs on China in a recent Fox News interview, he said: “They don’t want them, and I’d rather not have to use it.”
Liu Yawei, senior adviser on China at the Carter Center in Atlanta, said Trump has become “more pragmatic.”
“The signaling, at least from the election to the inauguration, seems to be more positive than has been expected before,” Liu said. “Hopefully, this positive dynamic can be preserved and continued. Being more pragmatic, less ideological will be good for everyone.”
ADVERTISEMENT
A Chinese expert on American foreign policy acknowledged that there are many “uncertainties and unknowns about the future” of U.S.-China relations. But Da Wei, director of the Center for International Security and Strategy at Tsinghua University in Beijing, also said Trump’s recent change in tone offers “encouraging signals.”
In his first term, warm relations were followed by a trade war
When Trump first became president in 2017, Xi and Trump got off to a good start. Xi was invited to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. A few months later, he treated Trump to a personal tour of the Palace Museum in the heart of Beijing, only to see Trump launch the trade war the following year.
The U.S.-China relationship soured further over the COVID-19 pandemic, and it hardly improved during President Joe Biden’s administration, which saw a controversial visit to the self-governing island of Taiwan by then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and a Chinese spy balloon aloft over U.S. territory.
Biden kept Trump’s tariffs on Chinese goods and intensified the economic and technological rivalry with export controls, investment curbs and alliance building.
ADVERTISEMENT
Now it will be up to Trump’s top diplomat, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, to help chart a new path for the second term.
During his confirmation hearing, Rubio said China has “lied, cheated, hacked and stolen” its way to global superpower status “at our expense.” He called China “the most potent and dangerous near-peer adversary this nation has ever confronted.”
Hours after he was sworn in, Rubio met foreign ministers from Australia, Japan and India, sending signals that he would continue to work with the same group of countries that Biden elevated to blunt China’s expanding influence and aggression in the Indo-Pacific region.
Yet Rubio, who was twice sanctioned by Beijing and is known for his hawkish views on the Chinese Communist Party, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the U.S. should engage with China because “it’s in the interest of global peace and stability.”
In a Friday phone call, China’s veteran foreign minister issued a veiled warning to Rubio, telling him to behave. Wang Yi conveyed the message in their first conversation since Rubio’s confirmation.
ADVERTISEMENT
“I hope you will act accordingly,” Wang told Rubio, according to a Chinese Foreign Ministry statement that included a Chinese phrase typically used by a teacher or a boss warning a student or employee to be responsible for their actions. Rubio agreed to manage bilateral relations in a “mature and prudent” way, the ministry said.
Members of Congress have noted Trump’s seemingly softer attitude toward Beijing.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro, a Democrat from Connecticut, wants to ensure “that Trump does not let China off too easy.” She urged the president to act now on measures that have won broad bipartisan support, including closing a tariff loophole on low-value packages, reviewing outbound investments and setting up a domestic industrial policy agenda.
ADVERTISEMENT
Beijing seeks opportunities and stays ready to play tough
Beijing is seeking opportunities to create more breathing room in its relations with a U.S. president known for his transactional style. Chinese leaders are betting on engaging with Trump directly when his Cabinet members and advisers appear to hold clashing views.
Trump “is the most important person above all those different voices, and he can at least set the tone of future policy,” Da said.
The Tsinghua professor expects Trump and Xi to meet at some point. Effective communication channels will be crucial, Da said, to keep differences from spiraling out of control, as they did in Trump’s first term.
“The two presidents can have a good starting point. That’s very important,” he said. “But then we need to set up some mechanisms to let the cabinet-level members talk to each other.”
Beijing has also signaled a willingness to be flexible on the future of TikTok, which Trump sought to ban during his first administration. But he has now come to the social media app’s rescue, offering more time for its Chinese-based parent company to sell and downplaying TikTok’s national security risks.
After Trump said he preferred not to use tariffs on China, the Chinese Foreign Ministry echoed that trade and economic cooperation between the two countries are mutually beneficial.
But Beijing is also ready to play tough, if necessary, after learning a lesson from Trump’s first term.
Over the past several years, Beijing has adopted laws and rules that allow it to retaliate quickly and forcefully to any hostile act from the U.S. In its toolbox are tariffs, import curbs, export controls, sanctions, measures to limit companies from doing business in China and regulatory reviews aimed at inflicting pain on American businesses and the U.S. economy.
Miles Yu, director of the China Center at the Hudson Institute, said Trump is now “more nuanced, and more focused, towards China.”
“He’s keeping his eyes on the prize, which is to maintain U.S. supremacy without risking open and avoidable confrontation with China, while perfectly willing to walk away from the negotiation table and play the hardball,” Yu said.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
After talking tough during campaign, Trump appears to ease up on China at start of presidency
1 of 6 |
President Donald Trump shakes hands with China’s President Xi Jinping during a meeting on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Osaka, Japan, June 29, 2019. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — On the campaign trail last year, President Donald Trump talked tough about imposing tariffs as high as 60% on Chinese goods and threatened to renew the trade war with China that he launched during his first term.
But now that he’s back in the White House, Trump appears to be seeking a more nuanced relationship with the country that both Republicans and Democrats have come to see as the gravest foreign policy challenge to the U.S. China is also a major trading partner and an economic powerhouse, and it has one of the world’s largest military forces.
“We look forward to doing very well with China and getting along with China,” Trump said Thursday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in comments that suggested Beijing could help end the war in Ukraine and reduce nuclear arms.
As he moves forward with plans to impose 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico on Feb. 1, Trump has not set a firm date for China. He’s only repeated his plan for a much lower 10% tax on Chinese imports in retaliation for China’s production of chemicals used in fentanyl. On Tuesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump was “very much still considering” raising tariffs on China on Feb. 1.
ADVERTISEMENT
Trump, who spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping days before taking office, seems to be showing restraint and bowing to a more complicated reality than he described while running for office. Speaking of potential tariffs on China in a recent Fox News interview, he said: “They don’t want them, and I’d rather not have to use it.”
Liu Yawei, senior adviser on China at the Carter Center in Atlanta, said Trump has become “more pragmatic.”
“The signaling, at least from the election to the inauguration, seems to be more positive than has been expected before,” Liu said. “Hopefully, this positive dynamic can be preserved and continued. Being more pragmatic, less ideological will be good for everyone.”
ADVERTISEMENT
A Chinese expert on American foreign policy acknowledged that there are many “uncertainties and unknowns about the future” of U.S.-China relations. But Da Wei, director of the Center for International Security and Strategy at Tsinghua University in Beijing, also said Trump’s recent change in tone offers “encouraging signals.”
In his first term, warm relations were followed by a trade war
When Trump first became president in 2017, Xi and Trump got off to a good start. Xi was invited to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. A few months later, he treated Trump to a personal tour of the Palace Museum in the heart of Beijing, only to see Trump launch the trade war the following year.
The U.S.-China relationship soured further over the COVID-19 pandemic, and it hardly improved during President Joe Biden’s administration, which saw a controversial visit to the self-governing island of Taiwan by then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and a Chinese spy balloon aloft over U.S. territory.
Biden kept Trump’s tariffs on Chinese goods and intensified the economic and technological rivalry with export controls, investment curbs and alliance building.
ADVERTISEMENT
Now it will be up to Trump’s top diplomat, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, to help chart a new path for the second term.
During his confirmation hearing, Rubio said China has “lied, cheated, hacked and stolen” its way to global superpower status “at our expense.” He called China “the most potent and dangerous near-peer adversary this nation has ever confronted.”
Hours after he was sworn in, Rubio met foreign ministers from Australia, Japan and India, sending signals that he would continue to work with the same group of countries that Biden elevated to blunt China’s expanding influence and aggression in the Indo-Pacific region.
Yet Rubio, who was twice sanctioned by Beijing and is known for his hawkish views on the Chinese Communist Party, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the U.S. should engage with China because “it’s in the interest of global peace and stability.”
In a Friday phone call, China’s veteran foreign minister issued a veiled warning to Rubio, telling him to behave. Wang Yi conveyed the message in their first conversation since Rubio’s confirmation.
ADVERTISEMENT
“I hope you will act accordingly,” Wang told Rubio, according to a Chinese Foreign Ministry statement that included a Chinese phrase typically used by a teacher or a boss warning a student or employee to be responsible for their actions. Rubio agreed to manage bilateral relations in a “mature and prudent” way, the ministry said.
Members of Congress have noted Trump’s seemingly softer attitude toward Beijing.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro, a Democrat from Connecticut, wants to ensure “that Trump does not let China off too easy.” She urged the president to act now on measures that have won broad bipartisan support, including closing a tariff loophole on low-value packages, reviewing outbound investments and setting up a domestic industrial policy agenda.
ADVERTISEMENT
Beijing seeks opportunities and stays ready to play tough
Beijing is seeking opportunities to create more breathing room in its relations with a U.S. president known for his transactional style. Chinese leaders are betting on engaging with Trump directly when his Cabinet members and advisers appear to hold clashing views.
Trump “is the most important person above all those different voices, and he can at least set the tone of future policy,” Da said.
The Tsinghua professor expects Trump and Xi to meet at some point. Effective communication channels will be crucial, Da said, to keep differences from spiraling out of control, as they did in Trump’s first term.
“The two presidents can have a good starting point. That’s very important,” he said. “But then we need to set up some mechanisms to let the cabinet-level members talk to each other.”
Beijing has also signaled a willingness to be flexible on the future of TikTok, which Trump sought to ban during his first administration. But he has now come to the social media app’s rescue, offering more time for its Chinese-based parent company to sell and downplaying TikTok’s national security risks.
After Trump said he preferred not to use tariffs on China, the Chinese Foreign Ministry echoed that trade and economic cooperation between the two countries are mutually beneficial.
But Beijing is also ready to play tough, if necessary, after learning a lesson from Trump’s first term.
Over the past several years, Beijing has adopted laws and rules that allow it to retaliate quickly and forcefully to any hostile act from the U.S. In its toolbox are tariffs, import curbs, export controls, sanctions, measures to limit companies from doing business in China and regulatory reviews aimed at inflicting pain on American businesses and the U.S. economy.
Miles Yu, director of the China Center at the Hudson Institute, said Trump is now “more nuanced, and more focused, towards China.”
“He’s keeping his eyes on the prize, which is to maintain U.S. supremacy without risking open and avoidable confrontation with China, while perfectly willing to walk away from the negotiation table and play the hardball,” Yu said.
___
has to or ivanks darlink has patents revoked...
right?
Never mind that, what's Hunter up to?
I know they found very little after years & years of digging, but I bet if they investigate him for another 5 years, they'll finally have Sleepy Dementia Joe and his Biden Criminal Enterprise right where they want him.
I just KNOW there's something there, Fox news told me so, and they wouldn't steer me wrong.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
How much do you wanna bet that this Menendez scumbag cozies up to Trump for a pardon? I can see him making a maga turn like that loser IL gov who sold Obama's senate seat.
How much do you wanna bet that this Menendez scumbag cozies up to Trump for a pardon? I can see him making a maga turn like that loser IL gov who sold Obama's senate seat.
Wow. We're the fucking Soviet Union now lol.
"President Trump is right -- this process is political and it's corrupted to the core," Menendez said. "I hope President Trump cleans up the cesspool and restores the integrity to the system."
Former Sen. Bob Menendez sentenced to 11 years in prison on corruption charges
He was convicted of abusing the power of his office in exchange for bribes.
Bob Menendez sentenced to 11 years in prison on corruption charges
Bob Menendez, 71, was found guilty on all 16 counts in his federal trial, becoming the first sitting member of Congress to be convicted of acting as a foreign agent.
A federal judge sentenced a tearful Bob Menendez to 11 years in prison Wednesday after the former U.S. senator was convicted of abusing the power of his office in exchange for bribes in the form of gold bars, a luxury car and other items.
"You stood at the apex of our political system," Judge Sidney Stein said in issuing the sentence. "Somewhere along the way, you lost your way."
Menendez, 71, was found guilty on all 16 counts last year in his federal corruption trial, becoming the first sitting member of Congress to be convicted of acting as a foreign agent. His children, Alicia and Rob, were in court to witness the sentencing.
"The fact that he was a public office holder who held a position of great public trust has to be taken into account," Stein said as he explained how he calculated the sentence.
Stein said Menendez "became a corrupt politician" as he ticked off the spoils of the corruption: the gold bars, the cash, the convertible.
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"When there's wrongdoing of this magnitude there are serious consequences," Stein said.
Ahead of the former senator's sentencing Wednesday afternoon, two New Jersey businessmen convicted of paying bribes to Menendez received lengthy prison sentences. Wael Hana was sentenced to eight years in prison and Fred Daibes to seven years.
Former Sen. Bob Menendez arrives at federal court in New York, on Jan. 29, 2025.
Stefan Jeremiah/AP
Menendez calls prosecution a 'witch hunt'
Outside the court following his sentencing, a defiant Menendez called the prosecution a "political witch hunt."
"Regardless of the judge's comments, today, I am innocent, and I look forward to filing appeals on a whole host of issues," Menendez said.
Menendez referred to the Southern District of New York, which prosecuted the case, as the "Wild West of political prosecutions" while outlining grievances with the evidence and witnesses in the trial.
"President Trump is right -- this process is political and it's corrupted to the core," Menendez said. "I hope President Trump cleans up the cesspool and restores the integrity to the system."
Danielle Sassoon, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement that Wednesday's sentences were the result of "an egregious abuse of power" at the highest levels of the government's legislative branch.
"Robert Menendez was trusted to represent the United States and the State of New Jersey, but instead he used his position to help his co-conspirators and a foreign government, in exchange for bribes like cash, gold, and a luxury car," she said. "The sentences imposed today send a clear message that attempts at any level of government to corrupt the nation’s foreign policy and the rule of law will be met with just punishment.”
Menendez says he's a 'chastened man'
Menendez sat at the defense table in a suit and tie with hands folded across his stomach before he stood at his seat to address the judge ahead of his sentencing.
"Your honor you have before you a chastened man," Menendez said as his voice began to break. "We sat in this court room for nine weeks, but you really don't know me."
The once-powerful Democrat introduced himself as the son of Cuban immigrants and explained his political biography, occasionally sniffling and choking up while reading from a prepared statement with hands stuffed in his pockets.
"This is who I truly am, judge. A man devoted to service," Menendez said, becoming emotional as he spoke of family and of constituents he helped. "I have lost everything I have cared about. For someone who spent a life in public service, every day is a punishment."
The judge said Menendez will not have to report to prison until June 6 so he can be available when his wife, Nadine, goes on trial on similar corruption and bribery charges on March 18.
Menendez's lawyer adjusted the defense's request for leniency following the imposition of lengthy prison sentences for his co-defendants.
Former U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez speaks to the members of the media, as he leaves federal court, on the day of sentencing in his bribery trial in connection with an alleged corrupt relationship with three New Jersey businessmen, in New York City, Jan. 29, 2025.
Eduardo Munoz/Reuters
Menendez previously sought a sentence of no more than two years in prison, citing his "extraordinary public service," but earlier Wednesday the two New Jersey businessmen convicted of paying the bribes were sentenced perhaps more harshly than the defense anticipated.
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"The good outweighs the bad in the arc of Bob's life," defense attorney Adam Fee told the judge. "We would ask the court to sentence Bob to no more than eight years in prison."
Prosecutor Paul Monteleoni had asked for 15 years in prison, arguing Menendez "believed that the power he wielded belonged to him."
"The offense conduct reflects a truly grave breach of the trust placed in Menendez by his fellow senators, by the people of New Jersey," Monteleoni told the court. "There are not many people who had power on the scale of Menendez."
'Rare gravity' of the crimes
Menendez had potentially faced decades in prison. Sentencing guidelines called for more than 24 to 30 years in prison, with the U.S. Probation Office recommending 12 years' imprisonment for Menendez, according to court filings.
Federal prosecutors have said the Democrat deserves 15 years in prison for his "naked greed" and the "rare gravity" of the crimes.
"This case is the first ever in which a Senator has been convicted of a crime involving the abuse of a leadership position on a Senate committee," federal prosecutors wrote in a memo to the judge earlier this month. "It is the first ever in which a Senator -- or any other person -- has been convicted of serving as a foreign agent while being a public official."
Prosecutors asked the court to impose a substantial prison sentence "to provide just punishment for this extraordinary abuse of power and betrayal of the public trust, and to deter others from ever engaging in similar conduct."
Sen. Bob Menendez departs Manhattan Federal Court, in New York City, May 14, 2024.
Alex Kent/AFP via Getty Images
Menendez's attorneys had sought leniency, urging the court to even consider whether a non-custodial sentence -- such as "home detention and rigorous community service" -- would suffice.
"Probation's recommended sentence of 12 years' imprisonment would be draconian -- likely a life and death sentence for someone of Bob's age and condition," his attorneys wrote in a memorandum to the judge earlier this month. "Bob is deserving of mercy because of the penalties already imposed, his age, and the lack of a compelling need to impose a custodial sentence."
The defense noted that Menendez is helping his wife battle cancer and argued he is no longer in a position to be a repeat offender, given that he was convicted of crimes that arose from his position as a U.S. senator.
"With this case, his political and professional careers have ended; his reputation is destroyed; and the latter years of his life are in shambles. He is certain never to commit future offenses," his attorneys wrote. "And his current state -- stripped of office and living under a permanent shadow of disgrace and mockery -- are more than sufficient to reflect the seriousness of the offenses and to promote respect for the law."
The former New Jersey senator, who resigned in the wake of his conviction, has maintained his innocence.
"I have never violated my oath," Menendez said outside the courthouse following the verdict in the nine-week trial. "I have never been anything but a patriot of my country and for my country. I have never, ever been a foreign agent."
Menendez twice unsuccessfully bid for a new trial ahead of his sentencing, most recently last week, with Stein finding the trial was fair while denying his request.
Menendez had also tried unsuccessfully to postpone his sentencing until after his wife stands trial.
In this Oct. 23, 2023, file photo, Sen. Bob Menendez arrives at Manhattan federal court in New York.
Frank Franklin II/AP, FILE
Co-defendants get lengthy prison sentences
Two New Jersey businessmen who were found guilty in the case were also sentenced on Wednesday. Hana was sentenced to eight years in prison and Daibes to seven years -- significantly more than what the defendants had sought and slightly less than what prosecutors recommended.
Prosecutors said Menendez promised to use his power as a senator to help Hana, who is originally from Egypt, by preserving a halal meat monopoly granted to Hana by Egypt.
Prosecutors said the former senator also promised Daibes that he would interfere with Daibes' federal prosecution and help the government of Qatar by supporting a Senate resolution praising the country.
Wael Hana leaves federal court on the day of sentencing in his bribery trial in connection with former U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, in New York City, Jan. 29, 2025.
Daibes' fingerprints were found on the envelopes of cash found at Menendez's home and serial numbers on the gold bars traced them to Daibes and Hana, according to prosecutors.
In issuing the sentences, Judge Stein called the evidence against Hana "substantial" and had strong words for Daibes.
"You are an American success story. You grew up in a refugee camp in Lebanon. But there is a dark side to what you have done," Stein said of Daibes. "You bribed Sen. Menendez multiple times."
Another New Jersey businessman, Jose Uribe, pleaded guilty in the case ahead of trial. Prosecutors said Uribe paid for Menendez's $60,000 Mercedes-Benz convertible in exchange for helping disrupt a criminal investigation by the New Jersey Attorney General's Office related to Uribe.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
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Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
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another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
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Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
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Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Comments
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2025/jan/27/threads-posts/no-this-proposed-constitutional-amendment-wouldnt/
There was a time when I'd have thought this blatantly cherry picked language would be laughed out of possibility. That time has passed.
2013 Wrigley 2014 St. Paul 2016 Fenway, Fenway, Wrigley, Wrigley 2018 Missoula, Wrigley, Wrigley 2021 Asbury Park 2022 St Louis 2023 Austin, Austin
The Golden Age is 2 months away. And guess what….. you’re gonna love it! (teskeinc 11.19.24)
1998: Noblesville; 2003: Noblesville; 2009: EV Nashville, Chicago, Chicago
2010: St Louis, Columbus, Noblesville; 2011: EV Chicago, East Troy, East Troy
2013: London ON, Wrigley; 2014: Cincy, St Louis, Moline (NO CODE)
2016: Lexington, Wrigley #1; 2018: Wrigley, Wrigley, Boston, Boston
2020: Oakland, Oakland: 2021: EV Ohana, Ohana, Ohana, Ohana
2022: Oakland, Oakland, Nashville, Louisville; 2023: Chicago, Chicago, Noblesville
2024: Noblesville, Wrigley, Wrigley, Ohana, Ohana; 2025: Pitt1, Pitt2
-EV 8/14/93
It's still a longshot but the way that it's written is truly something to behold. All that's missing is a provision that your last name must start with the letter "T" and end with the letter "P."
2013 Wrigley 2014 St. Paul 2016 Fenway, Fenway, Wrigley, Wrigley 2018 Missoula, Wrigley, Wrigley 2021 Asbury Park 2022 St Louis 2023 Austin, Austin
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
-EV 8/14/93
https://apnews.com/article/trump-xi-china-tiktok-tariffs-228c21dc088a22f5c816d3e827a97860
After talking tough during campaign, Trump appears to ease up on China at start of presidency
President Donald Trump shakes hands with China’s President Xi Jinping during a meeting on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Osaka, Japan, June 29, 2019. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — On the campaign trail last year, President Donald Trump talked tough about imposing tariffs as high as 60% on Chinese goods and threatened to renew the trade war with China that he launched during his first term.
But now that he’s back in the White House, Trump appears to be seeking a more nuanced relationship with the country that both Republicans and Democrats have come to see as the gravest foreign policy challenge to the U.S. China is also a major trading partner and an economic powerhouse, and it has one of the world’s largest military forces.
“We look forward to doing very well with China and getting along with China,” Trump said Thursday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in comments that suggested Beijing could help end the war in Ukraine and reduce nuclear arms.
As he moves forward with plans to impose 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico on Feb. 1, Trump has not set a firm date for China. He’s only repeated his plan for a much lower 10% tax on Chinese imports in retaliation for China’s production of chemicals used in fentanyl. On Tuesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump was “very much still considering” raising tariffs on China on Feb. 1.
Trump, who spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping days before taking office, seems to be showing restraint and bowing to a more complicated reality than he described while running for office. Speaking of potential tariffs on China in a recent Fox News interview, he said: “They don’t want them, and I’d rather not have to use it.”
Liu Yawei, senior adviser on China at the Carter Center in Atlanta, said Trump has become “more pragmatic.”
“The signaling, at least from the election to the inauguration, seems to be more positive than has been expected before,” Liu said. “Hopefully, this positive dynamic can be preserved and continued. Being more pragmatic, less ideological will be good for everyone.”
A Chinese expert on American foreign policy acknowledged that there are many “uncertainties and unknowns about the future” of U.S.-China relations. But Da Wei, director of the Center for International Security and Strategy at Tsinghua University in Beijing, also said Trump’s recent change in tone offers “encouraging signals.”
In his first term, warm relations were followed by a trade war
When Trump first became president in 2017, Xi and Trump got off to a good start. Xi was invited to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. A few months later, he treated Trump to a personal tour of the Palace Museum in the heart of Beijing, only to see Trump launch the trade war the following year.
The U.S.-China relationship soured further over the COVID-19 pandemic, and it hardly improved during President Joe Biden’s administration, which saw a controversial visit to the self-governing island of Taiwan by then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and a Chinese spy balloon aloft over U.S. territory.
Biden kept Trump’s tariffs on Chinese goods and intensified the economic and technological rivalry with export controls, investment curbs and alliance building.
Now it will be up to Trump’s top diplomat, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, to help chart a new path for the second term.
During his confirmation hearing, Rubio said China has “lied, cheated, hacked and stolen” its way to global superpower status “at our expense.” He called China “the most potent and dangerous near-peer adversary this nation has ever confronted.”
Hours after he was sworn in, Rubio met foreign ministers from Australia, Japan and India, sending signals that he would continue to work with the same group of countries that Biden elevated to blunt China’s expanding influence and aggression in the Indo-Pacific region.
Yet Rubio, who was twice sanctioned by Beijing and is known for his hawkish views on the Chinese Communist Party, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the U.S. should engage with China because “it’s in the interest of global peace and stability.”
In a Friday phone call, China’s veteran foreign minister issued a veiled warning to Rubio, telling him to behave. Wang Yi conveyed the message in their first conversation since Rubio’s confirmation.
“I hope you will act accordingly,” Wang told Rubio, according to a Chinese Foreign Ministry statement that included a Chinese phrase typically used by a teacher or a boss warning a student or employee to be responsible for their actions. Rubio agreed to manage bilateral relations in a “mature and prudent” way, the ministry said.
Members of Congress have noted Trump’s seemingly softer attitude toward Beijing.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro, a Democrat from Connecticut, wants to ensure “that Trump does not let China off too easy.” She urged the president to act now on measures that have won broad bipartisan support, including closing a tariff loophole on low-value packages, reviewing outbound investments and setting up a domestic industrial policy agenda.
Beijing seeks opportunities and stays ready to play tough
Beijing is seeking opportunities to create more breathing room in its relations with a U.S. president known for his transactional style. Chinese leaders are betting on engaging with Trump directly when his Cabinet members and advisers appear to hold clashing views.
Trump “is the most important person above all those different voices, and he can at least set the tone of future policy,” Da said.
The Tsinghua professor expects Trump and Xi to meet at some point. Effective communication channels will be crucial, Da said, to keep differences from spiraling out of control, as they did in Trump’s first term.
“The two presidents can have a good starting point. That’s very important,” he said. “But then we need to set up some mechanisms to let the cabinet-level members talk to each other.”
That may explain Beijing’s friendly overture at the start of the second Trump administration. In response to Trump’s inauguration invitation, Xi sent a special representative.
Beijing has also signaled a willingness to be flexible on the future of TikTok, which Trump sought to ban during his first administration. But he has now come to the social media app’s rescue, offering more time for its Chinese-based parent company to sell and downplaying TikTok’s national security risks.
After Trump said he preferred not to use tariffs on China, the Chinese Foreign Ministry echoed that trade and economic cooperation between the two countries are mutually beneficial.
But Beijing is also ready to play tough, if necessary, after learning a lesson from Trump’s first term.
Over the past several years, Beijing has adopted laws and rules that allow it to retaliate quickly and forcefully to any hostile act from the U.S. In its toolbox are tariffs, import curbs, export controls, sanctions, measures to limit companies from doing business in China and regulatory reviews aimed at inflicting pain on American businesses and the U.S. economy.
Miles Yu, director of the China Center at the Hudson Institute, said Trump is now “more nuanced, and more focused, towards China.”
“He’s keeping his eyes on the prize, which is to maintain U.S. supremacy without risking open and avoidable confrontation with China, while perfectly willing to walk away from the negotiation table and play the hardball,” Yu said.
___
But by all means, worry more about Hunter, rubes.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
I know they found very little after years & years of digging, but I bet if they investigate him for another 5 years, they'll finally have Sleepy Dementia Joe and his Biden Criminal Enterprise right where they want him.
I just KNOW there's something there, Fox news told me so, and they wouldn't steer me wrong.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
"President Trump is right -- this process is political and it's corrupted to the core," Menendez said. "I hope President Trump cleans up the cesspool and restores the integrity to the system."
https://abcnews.go.com/US/bob-menendez-sentencing-corruption-case/story?id=118186976
Former Sen. Bob Menendez sentenced to 11 years in prison on corruption charges
He was convicted of abusing the power of his office in exchange for bribes.
Bob Menendez sentenced to 11 years in prison on corruption charges
A federal judge sentenced a tearful Bob Menendez to 11 years in prison Wednesday after the former U.S. senator was convicted of abusing the power of his office in exchange for bribes in the form of gold bars, a luxury car and other items.
"You stood at the apex of our political system," Judge Sidney Stein said in issuing the sentence. "Somewhere along the way, you lost your way."
MORE: Former Sen. Bob Menendez denied new trial after conviction in corruption case
Menendez, 71, was found guilty on all 16 counts last year in his federal corruption trial, becoming the first sitting member of Congress to be convicted of acting as a foreign agent. His children, Alicia and Rob, were in court to witness the sentencing.
"The fact that he was a public office holder who held a position of great public trust has to be taken into account," Stein said as he explained how he calculated the sentence.
Stein said Menendez "became a corrupt politician" as he ticked off the spoils of the corruption: the gold bars, the cash, the convertible.
"When there's wrongdoing of this magnitude there are serious consequences," Stein said.
Ahead of the former senator's sentencing Wednesday afternoon, two New Jersey businessmen convicted of paying bribes to Menendez received lengthy prison sentences. Wael Hana was sentenced to eight years in prison and Fred Daibes to seven years.
Menendez calls prosecution a 'witch hunt'
Outside the court following his sentencing, a defiant Menendez called the prosecution a "political witch hunt."
"Regardless of the judge's comments, today, I am innocent, and I look forward to filing appeals on a whole host of issues," Menendez said.
Menendez referred to the Southern District of New York, which prosecuted the case, as the "Wild West of political prosecutions" while outlining grievances with the evidence and witnesses in the trial.
"President Trump is right -- this process is political and it's corrupted to the core," Menendez said. "I hope President Trump cleans up the cesspool and restores the integrity to the system."
Danielle Sassoon, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement that Wednesday's sentences were the result of "an egregious abuse of power" at the highest levels of the government's legislative branch.
"Robert Menendez was trusted to represent the United States and the State of New Jersey, but instead he used his position to help his co-conspirators and a foreign government, in exchange for bribes like cash, gold, and a luxury car," she said. "The sentences imposed today send a clear message that attempts at any level of government to corrupt the nation’s foreign policy and the rule of law will be met with just punishment.”
Menendez says he's a 'chastened man'
Menendez sat at the defense table in a suit and tie with hands folded across his stomach before he stood at his seat to address the judge ahead of his sentencing.
"Your honor you have before you a chastened man," Menendez said as his voice began to break. "We sat in this court room for nine weeks, but you really don't know me."
MORE: Bob Menendez reveals wife Nadine is battling breast cancer, will undergo mastectomy
The once-powerful Democrat introduced himself as the son of Cuban immigrants and explained his political biography, occasionally sniffling and choking up while reading from a prepared statement with hands stuffed in his pockets.
"This is who I truly am, judge. A man devoted to service," Menendez said, becoming emotional as he spoke of family and of constituents he helped. "I have lost everything I have cared about. For someone who spent a life in public service, every day is a punishment."
The judge said Menendez will not have to report to prison until June 6 so he can be available when his wife, Nadine, goes on trial on similar corruption and bribery charges on March 18.
Menendez's lawyer adjusted the defense's request for leniency following the imposition of lengthy prison sentences for his co-defendants.
Menendez previously sought a sentence of no more than two years in prison, citing his "extraordinary public service," but earlier Wednesday the two New Jersey businessmen convicted of paying the bribes were sentenced perhaps more harshly than the defense anticipated.
"The good outweighs the bad in the arc of Bob's life," defense attorney Adam Fee told the judge. "We would ask the court to sentence Bob to no more than eight years in prison."
Prosecutor Paul Monteleoni had asked for 15 years in prison, arguing Menendez "believed that the power he wielded belonged to him."
"The offense conduct reflects a truly grave breach of the trust placed in Menendez by his fellow senators, by the people of New Jersey," Monteleoni told the court. "There are not many people who had power on the scale of Menendez."
'Rare gravity' of the crimes
Menendez had potentially faced decades in prison. Sentencing guidelines called for more than 24 to 30 years in prison, with the U.S. Probation Office recommending 12 years' imprisonment for Menendez, according to court filings.
Federal prosecutors have said the Democrat deserves 15 years in prison for his "naked greed" and the "rare gravity" of the crimes.
"This case is the first ever in which a Senator has been convicted of a crime involving the abuse of a leadership position on a Senate committee," federal prosecutors wrote in a memo to the judge earlier this month. "It is the first ever in which a Senator -- or any other person -- has been convicted of serving as a foreign agent while being a public official."
Prosecutors asked the court to impose a substantial prison sentence "to provide just punishment for this extraordinary abuse of power and betrayal of the public trust, and to deter others from ever engaging in similar conduct."
Menendez's attorneys had sought leniency, urging the court to even consider whether a non-custodial sentence -- such as "home detention and rigorous community service" -- would suffice.
"Probation's recommended sentence of 12 years' imprisonment would be draconian -- likely a life and death sentence for someone of Bob's age and condition," his attorneys wrote in a memorandum to the judge earlier this month. "Bob is deserving of mercy because of the penalties already imposed, his age, and the lack of a compelling need to impose a custodial sentence."
The defense noted that Menendez is helping his wife battle cancer and argued he is no longer in a position to be a repeat offender, given that he was convicted of crimes that arose from his position as a U.S. senator.
"With this case, his political and professional careers have ended; his reputation is destroyed; and the latter years of his life are in shambles. He is certain never to commit future offenses," his attorneys wrote. "And his current state -- stripped of office and living under a permanent shadow of disgrace and mockery -- are more than sufficient to reflect the seriousness of the offenses and to promote respect for the law."
MORE: Sen. Bob Menendez to resign next month following conviction in federal corruption trial
The former New Jersey senator, who resigned in the wake of his conviction, has maintained his innocence.
"I have never violated my oath," Menendez said outside the courthouse following the verdict in the nine-week trial. "I have never been anything but a patriot of my country and for my country. I have never, ever been a foreign agent."
Menendez twice unsuccessfully bid for a new trial ahead of his sentencing, most recently last week, with Stein finding the trial was fair while denying his request.
Menendez had also tried unsuccessfully to postpone his sentencing until after his wife stands trial.
Co-defendants get lengthy prison sentences
Two New Jersey businessmen who were found guilty in the case were also sentenced on Wednesday. Hana was sentenced to eight years in prison and Daibes to seven years -- significantly more than what the defendants had sought and slightly less than what prosecutors recommended.
Prosecutors said Menendez promised to use his power as a senator to help Hana, who is originally from Egypt, by preserving a halal meat monopoly granted to Hana by Egypt.
Prosecutors said the former senator also promised Daibes that he would interfere with Daibes' federal prosecution and help the government of Qatar by supporting a Senate resolution praising the country.
MORE: Sen. Bob Menendez found guilty on all counts, including acting as foreign agent, in federal corruption trial
Daibes' fingerprints were found on the envelopes of cash found at Menendez's home and serial numbers on the gold bars traced them to Daibes and Hana, according to prosecutors.
In issuing the sentences, Judge Stein called the evidence against Hana "substantial" and had strong words for Daibes.
"You are an American success story. You grew up in a refugee camp in Lebanon. But there is a dark side to what you have done," Stein said of Daibes. "You bribed Sen. Menendez multiple times."
Another New Jersey businessman, Jose Uribe, pleaded guilty in the case ahead of trial. Prosecutors said Uribe paid for Menendez's $60,000 Mercedes-Benz convertible in exchange for helping disrupt a criminal investigation by the New Jersey Attorney General's Office related to Uribe.
He is scheduled to be sentenced in April.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14