TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez is resigning from office Aug. 20 following his conviction for taking bribes for corrupt acts including acting as an agent of the Egyptian government, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
Menendez had insisted after the July 16 verdict that he was innocent and promised to appeal. The person who told the AP about Menendez’s resignation did so on the condition of anonymity because the New Jersey Democrat’s decision hadn’t been made public. Menendez’s attorney hasn’t returned messages seeking comment.
The resignation gives New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, the ability to appoint someone to the senate for the remainder of Menendez’s term, which expires on Jan. 3. The seat was already up for election on Nov. 5. Democrats have nominated U.S. Rep. Andy Kim, who’s in strong position in the Democratic-leaning state. He faces Republican Curtis Bashaw.
Menendez, 70, was convicted of charges that he sold the power of his office to three New Jersey businessmen who sought a variety of favors. Prosecutors said Menendez used his influence to meddle in three different state and federal criminal investigations to protect his associates. They said he helped one bribe-paying friend get a multimillion-dollar deal with a Qatari investment fund and another keep a contract to provide religious certification for meat bound for Egypt.
He was also convicted of taking actions that benefited Egypt’s government in exchange for bribes, including providing details on personnel at the U.S. embassy in Cairo, ghostwriting a letter to fellow senators regarding lifting a hold on military aid to Egypt. FBI agents found stacks of gold bars and $480,000 in cash hidden in Menendez’s house.
After his conviction, Menendez denied all of those allegations, saying “I have never been anything but a patriot of my country and for my country. I have never, ever been a foreign agent.”
But numerous fellow Democrats had urged him to resign, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. Murphy had urged the Senate to expel Menendez if he didn’t quit. Only 15 senators have ever been expelled. Sen. William Blount, of Tennessee, was ousted in 1797 for treason. The other 14 were expelled in 1861 and 1862 for supporting Confederates during the Civil War.
Menendez faces the possibility of decades in prison. A judge scheduled his sentencing on Oct. 29, a week before the election.
His resignation bookends a career spent in politics that started with him getting elected to his local school board just a couple of years after high school graduation. He’s held office at every level in his home state and had vowed to run as an independent in November for a fourth term.
The son of Cuban immigrants and an attorney by training, Menendez was a Union City, New Jersey, school board member at age 20 — before graduating from law school — and later became the mayor of the city, where he still has deep connections.
His own biography says he wanted to fight corruption early in his political career, testifying against Union City officials and building a reputation as tough. From there, he was elected to the state Assembly, then the state Senate before heading to the U.S. House.
He was appointed to be a U.S. senator in 2006 when the seat opened up after incumbent Jon Corzine became governor. He was elected outright in 2006 and again in 2012 and 2018. He served as chair of the influential Senate Foreign Relations Committee beginning in 2013.
Menendez’ political career looked like it might be over in 2015, when he was indicted in New Jersey on charges that he had accepted bribes of luxury overseas vacations, private jet travel and campaign contributions from a wealthy Florida eye doctor, Salomon Melgen.
In return, prosecutors said Menendez pressured government officials on Melgen’s behalf over an $8.9 million Medicare billing dispute and a stalled contract to provide port screening equipment in the Dominican Republic. They said he also helped obtain U.S. visas for the doctor’s girlfriends.
The defense argued that the gifts were not bribes but tokens of friendship between two men who were “like brothers.”
A jury couldn’t reach a unanimous verdict, resulting in a mistrial in 2017. U.S. prosecutors didn’t seek a retrial.
New Jersey voters then returned Menendez to the Senate for another term. Melgen was convicted in a separate fraud trial, but his 17-year prison sentence was later commuted by then-President Donald Trump.
By HOWARD FENDRICH and EDDIE PELLS AP National Writers
Lydia Jacoby was a breakout star in the pool for the United States at the last Summer Games, earning a gold medal in the 100-meter breaststroke and a relay silver. Part of what comes to mind from those heady days in Tokyo? “People talking about post-Olympic depression,” she said.
She was 17 at the time, and her initial response when other athletes brought up the topic was: “Well, that doesn’t apply to me.”
“I essentially did not understand the topic of depression,” she said. “It wasn’t until after the Games that I was like, ‘Oh. … OK. Yeah, I’m feeling this a little.’”
FILE – American swimmer Lydia Jacoby, 20, answers questions during an interview, Wednesday April 17, 2024, in New York. Jacoby was a breakout star in the pool for the United States at the last Summer Games, earning a gold medal in the 100-meter breaststroke and a relay silver. Part of what comes to mind for Jacoby from those heady days three years ago in Tokyo? “People talking about post-Olympic depression.” (AP Photo/Brittainy Newman, File)
Jacoby, who didn’t qualify for the 2024 Olympics, is now fully aware of the phenomenon, went through it, moved past it and discusses it casually, all of which points to the way things have changed in just a few years when it comes to mental health.
As the Paris Games open on Friday, followed by the Paralympics beginning Aug. 28, athletes have more access than ever to resources in that once-taboo realm and sound more willing than ever to use them. That seems particularly significant given that Jessica Bartley, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee’s senior director of psychological services, says about half of the country’s athletes at the past two Olympiads were flagged for at least one of the following: anxiety, depression, sleep disorders, eating disorders, substance use or abuse.
“We really are just a part of the conversation now,” Bartley said, “and not an afterthought or something when someone’s struggling.”
Among the key questions now: Is everyone going to seek the help they need? And is enough help available?
As for the first, Bartley said: “I’d like to think we’re over the hump, but we’re still not quite there. I feel like there is still some stigma. I think there’s still some connections to ‘weakness.’”
And the second? “I do think there still could be more,” track star Gabby Thomas said, “but, I mean, they’re there.”
FILE – Jessica Bartley, senior director of psychological services at USOPC, listens during a press conference at the Olympic media summit, Monday, April 15, 2024, in New York. Bartley says about half of the country’s athletes at the past two Olympiads were flagged for at least one of the following: anxiety, depression, sleep disorders, eating disorders, substance use/abuse. (AP Photo/Brittainy Newman, File)
Olympians Simone Biles, Naomi Osaka and Michael Phelps opened doors
Three Olympians — Simone Biles and Naomi Osaka, who participated in the last pandemic-delayed Summer Games, and are returning, and retired swimmer Michael Phelps, who has more medals than anyone in any sport — provided some of the loudest voices in the growing global conversation in sports and society at large about the importance of protecting, gauging and improving the state of one’s mind as much as one’s body.
Phelps spoke about having suicidal thoughts at the height of his career and helped produce a documentary about depression among Olympians. He also called on the International Olympic Committee and USOPC to do more.
“I do think there’s something to be said when a lot of really, really good athletes kind of talk about the same issue. I know all athletes don’t feel the same way; you have to be a certain type or in a certain head space. Some people just feel things differently,” said Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam champion and former No. 1-ranked player in tennis who lit the cauldron in Japan.
FILE – Naomi Osaka, of Japan, reacts after losing a point to Marketa Vondrousova, of the Czech Republic, during the third round of the tennis competition at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, July 27, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. Osaka has been forthcoming about her bouts with anxiety and depression and was among the first sports figures to take mental-health breaks away from competition, paving the way for others.
(AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
FILE – U.S. swimming star Michael Phelps, left, walks with his coach Bob Bowman during a training session at the World Swimming Championships in Melbourne, Australia. Phelps spoke about having suicidal thoughts at the height of his career and helped produce a documentary about depression among Olympians. He also called on the International Olympic Committee and USOPC to do more.
(AP Photo/Mark Baker, File)
FILE – Nevin Harrison, of the United States, competes in the women’s canoe single 200m final at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 5, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. What Simone Biles did resonated with athletes who could empathize, athletes who, like canoeist Nevin Harrison, a gold medalist in Tokyo, know that “anxiety, fear, stress … are all going to be huge parts in competing at such a high level.” (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File)
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FILE – Naomi Osaka, of Japan, reacts after losing a point to Marketa Vondrousova, of the Czech Republic, during the third round of the tennis competition at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, July 27, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. Osaka has been forthcoming about her bouts with anxiety and depression and was among the first sports figures to take mental-health breaks away from competition, paving the way for others.
(AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
She’s been forthcoming about her bouts with anxiety and depression and was among the first sports figures to take mental-health breaks away from competition, paving the way for others.
Osaka, in turn, said she felt “very heard” when she listened to Biles and Phelps.
“I’m pretty sure a lot of different athletes also felt heard,” Osaka said. “They didn’t feel like it was a weakness or anything like that, so I’m really glad we all talked about it.”
Biles, who redefined excellence in gymnastics and picked up seven Olympic medals along the way, drew attention and, from some, criticism, for pulling out of events in Tokyo because of a mental block — known in the gymnastics world as “the twisties” — that made her afraid to attempt certain dangerous moves.
That her explanations of what went awry came in such a public setting, as THE biggest star in Tokyo, only made it all the more meaningful to other athletes.
“She didn’t have to,” said basketball player Breanna Stewart, a WNBA MVP. “She used her platform to help others.”
What Biles did resonated with athletes like canoeist Nevin Harrison, a gold medalist in Tokyo, who said “anxiety, fear, stress … are all going to be huge parts in competing at such a high level.”
Biles made them see that there can be a way out.
“I was, at one time, in those shoes,” boxer Morelle McCane said, “where I was just like, ‘It’s do or die! It’s do or die!’”
FILE – United States’Janet Evans leans on the lane ropes after finishing her heat in the women’s 400 meter freestyle at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Monday, July 22, 1996. Evans won four swimming golds at the 1988 and 1992 Games and recalls the never-easing pressure to perform. In her day, she says, there was nowhere near as much empathy or as many outlets as are available to today’s Olympians. (AP Photo/David Longstreath, File)
How different is it for today’s Olympians?
Janet Evans won four swimming golds at the 1988 and 1992 Games and recalls the never-easing pressure to perform. In her day, she says, there wasn’t nearly the empathy or outlets for help available as there are for today’s Olympians.
“We didn’t talk about the struggles. No one taught me that it was OK to lose, right? I mean, I was Janet Evans, and when I went to a swim meet, I was supposed to win,” said Evans, the chief athlete officer for the 2028 Los Angeles Games. “We talk about it now and we recognize it with our athletes. And I think that is an important first step.”
Which means that even 38-year-old rugby player Perry Baker has seen changes since his Olympic debut at Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
“You had to tough it out. You kind of felt by yourself. You kind of felt like you couldn’t talk to anyone,” said Baker, who briefly was with the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles.
Are we approaching the ‘American decade’ of the Olympics?
The balance national Olympic committees must strike between caring about athletes as people but making sure the medals pile up is “threading a needle,” Evans acknowledged.
“We should go to the Olympics and Paralympics and win medals. But I don’t think that should be at the cost of how we’re preparing our athletes for the future,” Evans said. “Both can happen.”
That’s where Bartley and her counterparts in other countries and at the IOC come in.
The Beijing Winter Games two years ago were the first with extra credentials issued for national Olympic committees to bring athlete welfare officers — registered mental health professionals or qualified safeguarding experts — and more than 170 from more than 90 countries will be in Paris.
“We didn’t have it in Tokyo, and now it will be implemented for every Games,” said Kirsty Burrows, head of an IOC unit focused on athletes’ mental health. “Because we really see the impact.”
There will be a 24/7 helpline with mental health counselors who speak more than 70 languages, a program started for the Beijing Games but now available to every Olympian and Paralympian until four years after the event. There’s also AI to monitor athletes’ social media for cyberbullying, and a “mind zone” in the athletes village with a yoga area, low lighting, comfortable seating and other tools “dedicated to disconnection, decompression,” Burrows said.
The USOPC went from six mental-health providers 3 1/2 years ago to 15 now; 14 will be in France. Last year, 1,300 Team USA athletes participated in more than 6,000 therapy sessions set up by the USOPC.
“I expect the numbers to be even higher,” Bartley said, “especially in a Games year.”
The short list would definitely include the beaches, the art, the history, the food, the tennis, the architecture and — without a doubt — the music.
It’s the latter we are going to concern ourselves with here, as we offer up some suggestions for those creating their own special French music playlists just in time for the 2024 Olympics kicking off in Paris.
There are a lot of different ways we could have played this, ranging from the traditional Parisian music we often encounter in period-piece movies to more avant-garde and modern offerings.
We decided to go with a mix of styles, with the common theme being that this is all music we’d want to listen to even if it weren’t an Olympic year. Note: This is not necessarily rah-rah music meant to pump you up for the games — although some of the artists and songs may indeed accomplish that feat — but rather just selections to put you in the mood to enjoy your time (presumably via TV or the internet) in Paris this summer.
So here are eight of our favorite French acts, each with some recommended songs. Find out which ones you like and then go ahead and draw up your own Paris Olympics playlist.
We’ll kick things off with one of the country’s most widely known artists.
Serge Gainsbourg: The fact that he courted so much controversy during his lifetime — with his sexually provocative music and themes — often overshadows his staggering level of talent and widespread influence. Yet, the way he was able to so seamlessly mix chanson, jazz, funk, world music and other styles was truly astounding. Gainsbourg, who died in 1991 at the age of 62, should be regarded as nothing short of one of the greatest artists in French pop history.
Gojira: If you don’t know Gojira then you don’t know the greatest heavy metal band to rise to prominence in the 21st century. The group released the epic full-length debut “Terra Incognita” in 2001 and, from that point on, it’s been one face-meltingly awesome platter after another. This outfit rocks super hard, holding its own on bills with Metallica and other legends of the genre, but it also knows how to groove and add some cool prog elements to the mix. Don’t miss Gojira when it performs with Korn at Shoreline Amphitheatre at Mountain View on Oct. 6 (livenation.com).
Recommended songs: “Amazonia,” “Born in Winter,” “The Heaviest Matter of the Universe,” “Flying Whales,” “Born for One Thing”
Françoise Hardy: An absolutely mesmerizing French singer-songwriter, who also crooned in Italian, German and English, Hardy released more than 30 albums during a career that stretched from the early ’60s until very recent times. She died just last month at the age of 80, leaving behind so many wonderful songs and albums. Hardy was one of the leading proponents of the ’60s yé-yé movement, which derived its name from the English words “yeah, yeah” and its sound from American and British rock bands of the era.
Recommended songs: “Suzanne” (an amazing cover of the Leonard Cohen song), “Comment te dire adieu,” “L’amitie,” “Mon amour adieu,” “Le temps de l’amour”
Air: The vastly acclaimed electronic music duo out of Versailles — featuring masterminds Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoît Dunckel — has released so many good albums over the years. Yet, the one that we keep going back to again and again is the gorgeous soundtrack to “The Virgin Suicides,” Sofia Coppola’s landmark film from 1999 that starred Kirsten Dunst. It’s nothing short of one of the finest ambient chill-out records ever recorded. Air performs Oct. 2 at the Masonic in San Francisco (livenation.com).
Booba: After getting his start in the hip-hop duo Lunatic in the mid-’90s, Élie Thitia Yaffa — vastly better known by the stage name Booba — went on to firmly establish himself as a solo artist with a long string of hot-selling albums, including such platinum-plus outings as “Ouest Side” (2006) and “Futur” (2012). Booba has flow for days and his records benefit from absolutely stellar production work.
Carla Bruni: She has a fascinating backstory, which includes the years (2008-2012) she spent as the first lady of France (the wife of then-president Nicolas Sarkozy). Yet that has nothing to do with why we are recommending her music. Instead, Bruni makes our list because her voice is so incredibly striking on such albums as 2003’s “Quelqu’un m’a dit” and 2007’s “No Promises.” Plus, she’s so good at covering other people’s music.
MC Solaar: One of the France’s most heavily championed hip-hop stars, Claude Honoré M’Barali — aka, MC Solaar — just keeps right on releasing hit records. The short list would include such top sellers as the 1997 chart-topper “Paradisiaque” as well as 2001’s “Cinquième As” and 2003’s “Mach 6.” Having been in the game since the 1980s, Solaar has long been one of the top global ambassadors of French-language rap.
Recommended songs: “Da Vinci Claude,” “La Belle et le Bad Boy,” “Okay,” “Caroline,” “Le depart”
Alcest: The Bagnols-sur-Cèze-born band has a terrific sound, mixing black metal, post-metal, shoegaze and even ambient elements in some truly mesmerizing ways. And that sound has rarely translated better than on Alcest’s newly released offering, “Les Chants de l’Aurore” (translation: “The Songs of Dawn”), which follows 2019’s critically acclaimed “Spiritual Instinct.”
As the Paris Olympics are set to open this week, the United States goes in as the favorite to win the most medals. China is unlikely to overtake the U.S. in the overall medal haul, but has a chance to win more gold medals than the Americans.
Though the Games highlight great individual athletes, they are also a surrogate for geopolitical influence and national pride.
The United States is projected to win 112 medals overall — 39 gold, 32 silver, and 41 bronze. China is forecast to win 86 overall — 34 gold, 27 silver, and 25 bronze.
This forecast is by Nielsen’s Gracenot e Sports, which supplies statistical analysis for sports leagues around the world. It also tracks major competitions involving Olympic sports leading up to the Games.
The United States and China finished 1-2 in both categories in 2021 in the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Olympics.
The International Olympic Committee does not compile medal rankings. Gracenote has calculated its standings on overall medals won, although others focus the rankings on gold totals.
The forecast for the Americans on top is no surprise. This would be the eighth consecutive time the United States has won the most overall medals at the Summer Games. The Unified team topped the overall count in 1992 at Barcelona, composed of athletes from the former Soviet Union just after it broke up as a sovereign state.
The last Summer Olympics in which the United States did not top the gold-medal table was in 2008 in Beijing.
After the United States and China, the next in line with overall totals and gold totals are: Britain (63-17), France (60-27), Australia (54-15), Japan (47-13), Italy (46-11), Germany (35-11), Netherlands (34-16), South Korea (26-9).
The next places 11 to 20 are: Canada (21-7), Hungary (20-7), Brazil (18-8), Spain (18-5), Poland (17-3), Denmark (14-5), Turkey (14-4), New Zealand (14-4), Ukraine (13-2), Ethiopia (12-6).
Countries always get a medal bump being the host nation, and France is expected to almost triple the number of gold medals it won in Tokyo.
Host nations spend more heavily for a home Olympics, and the home crowds also help with athletes competing in familiar surroundings.
Conversely, Japan won a record 58 overall medals three years ago in Tokyo, and 27 gold. It is sure to slip this time.
The unknown factor is the presence of Russian and — to a lesser extent — Belarusian athletes. They have been absent from most international competitions over the last two years because of the war in Ukraine. And, by order of the IOC, any medals those athletes win are not to be included in any medal table.
More than 300 Russian athletes competed three years ago in Tokyo. This time the total may be just a dozen or so.
