Gov. Murphy expected to name George Helmy to replace Bob Menendez as NJ senator
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(TRENTON, N.J.) — New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy is expected to name his former chief of staff and longtime friend and political ally, George Helmy, as interim senator to replace Bob Menendez in the wake of him being convicted of fraud.
Murphy will hold a news conference in Newark on Friday to officially announce his selection for who will fill the remainder of the resigning Menendez’s term in the U.S. Senate.
Menendez wrote to Murphy last month saying he will resign from the Senate as of Aug. 20.
Murphy declined to confirm Helmy is his pick during an interview on local station WYNW on Thursday morning, instead promising an announcement “over the next couple of days.”
“That is the rumor. He’s a great guy, great professional. Great human being,” Murphy told the Fox station when pressed about if Helmy is the pick. “But nothing official, nothing to report.”
ABC News has reached out to Murphy’s office for comment on the reports that he will choose Helmy.
If Murphy names Helmy as the interim senator, that means bypassing Rep. Andy Kim, D-N.J., who is the Democratic nominee in New Jersey for the U.S. Senate and is likely to be elected in November for the full term. A representative for Kim deferred any comment until the official announcement.
Friday is also the last day Menendez can remove his name from the November ballot. The 70-year-old is still officially on the ballot running for his seat as an independent candidate.
Menendez, who had served as senator in New Jersey since 2006, was convicted on all counts, including bribery, fraud, acting as a foreign agent and obstruction, in a federal trial last month.
He planned to appeal his conviction and said he was “deeply disappointed” by the jury’s decision. His sentencing was set for Oct. 29.
“I have never violated my oath,” he said outside the courthouse following his conviction. “I have never been anything but a patriot of my country and for my country. I have never, ever been a foreign agent.”
(MILWAUKEE, W.I.) — Former President Donald Trump will formally accept the GOP presidential nomination Thursday night and deliver his first speech since Saturday’s assassination attempt, capping off an ebullient Republican convention at a time of heightened political uncertainty.
Trump will give the keynote remarks at a time when he is pushing for a more unifying message after last weekend’s shooting and as he rides political tailwinds into the summer and fall, fueled in part by President Joe Biden’s calamitous June debate and subsequent Democratic angst.
Such a tone would mark a departure both for Trump individually and for American politics writ large, though operatives and conventiongoers alike predicted a more subdued speech focused on uniting the country, with the nation captivated by news of the attempt on the former president’s life in Butler, Pennsylvania.
“I think he’s a changed man. Anytime you come within millimeters of your life, that has an effect. I think, from his standpoint, he doesn’t want to be a divisive figure. He wants to be a unifying figure at a time that the country is desperately seeking unity and needs unity,” said Bryan Lanza, a former Trump campaign official who remains in touch with his current team.
“It’s just not a moment for him, and it’s just not a moment for the Republican Party. It’s a moment for the country,” he added. “We experienced a shock. We could literally be at a funeral today.”
Trump said he revised his remarks after Saturday’s shooting, saying it initially was set to be a “humdinger” but that now it will be “more of a unity speech.”
In an era when few thinks punch through the political noise, particularly in a race between a current and former president with virtually universal name recognition, the speech marks a rare moment where Trump can hold the stage at a pivot point in the race, even as it’s unclear precisely how much the election’s dynamics have changed.
“When you’re at this level, there’s just certain speeches that the world stops and listens to, and your nominating speech is one,” said veteran GOP strategist Chip Saltsman.
“Unity” has been the buzz word since Saturday, with leaders of both parties lamenting the violence and urging renewed civility in the country’s politics.
However, such a tone could also help Trump politically, operatives predicted.
While in office, Trump bled support from centrist, suburban voters — enough to cost him reelection in 2020. Their defection was widely attributed more to tone than to policy disagreements, and now, with polls showing Biden with hefty disapproval ratings, a more leveled approach from Trump could help win some voters back to his side, including by detailing the immediate aftermath of the shooting, strategists said.
“How do you get the Republicans that don’t particularly like you? How do you get the true undecideds and independents? And how do you get the Democrats that aren’t happy with Joe Biden? Obviously, those are typically issue-type conversations, but I think in this case he can do it with his emotion,” Saltsman said.
To be certain, Trump is still widely anticipated to go after Biden’s record, prosecuting the kind of contrast on policies that he’s been putting forth since the election began.
“I expect to hear about Afghanistan withdrawal and the economy and the border and these big picture issues that have formed around this campaign,” said one former senior Trump administration official. “A lot of the things that I think he covers on a regular basis in his rallies, but it’ll be more surgical, if Trump’s capable of surgical.”
“I do think you’ll see him add Kamala in a good amount to the Biden criticisms. I think that news today makes it clear that they’re still pushing on that, and President Trump’s pretty keen to this as an option for them,” the person added, referencing growing chatter around Democrats’ calls for Biden to drop out of the race.
And it’s still unclear precisely how long the veneer of unity can last. Politics has morphed into a blood sport in the U.S., and those working for both candidates may be more willing to push the envelope when going after their opponents.
“I’ll be honest, it’s not gonna be the tone you hear from the rest of us, we’re seasoned operatives. We fight, and that’s how you gain position is by fighting,” Lanza said.
Interviews with conventiongoers showed an appetite for both unity and Trump’s typical punchiness.
“Peace and unity because it’s a very divided country right now,” Awet Gebremariam, a delegate from California, said when asked what she wants to hear from Trump. “He almost lost his life. And I think he’s very subdued and he’s very reserved and he’s very grounded now. And I think he’s going to give a great, great speech, maybe very different from the speeches before he used to give before.”
Others, like Daniel Bobay, an alternate delegate from Texas, wanted more of a mix, arguing that “you can fight nicely.”
“I’m hoping,” Elizabeth Hines-Ferrick, a delegate from Massachusetts said, when asked if she wanted the rhetoric toned down. “But at least I still expect him to be a fighter, because he speaks straight from the heart.”
Politically, Democrats concede a more unifying tone from Trump could make it harder to knock him as a threat to democracy, especially after the shooting, even if they’re skeptical he can keep it up long after the GOP convention.
“I think there’s an initial concern that if Trump can play this the right way that he can look like a unifier and get outside of his brand,” one battleground Democratic strategist said. “But then also at the same time, I would tell you that no one has any confidence that he can continue to play the straight man.”
As far as Thursday goes, however, Trump is virtually guaranteed a hero’s welcome, no matter what he says.
“I think it’s gonna be pretty epic,” the former senior administration official said. “Everyone in that hall loves the man, and him speaking to them for the first time since Saturday is going to have a pretty raucous atmosphere. I imagine it’s gonna be emotional. You’re gonna see delegates teary-eyed and hooting and hollering.”
ABC News’ Jonathan Karl contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Prosecutors in New York are taking no position on former President Donald Trump’s request to delay sentencing of his “hush money” conviction until after the November election.
Instead, the Manhattan district attorney’s office said in a letter Monday it would defer to Judge Juan Merchan.
Trump is currently scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 18 after a jury convicted him of all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to a hush payment to porn actress Stormy Daniels.
Trump had originally been scheduled to be sentenced on July 11, but Merchan said last month he would rule on Trump’s immunity claim on Sept. 16 and impose sentencing two days later.
Trump has argued the recent Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity should render some evidence inadmissible and, therefore, throw out the conviction.
Prosecutors said they would leave it to the judge to decide whether Trump should be allowed to exhaust his appeals prior to sentencing.
“The People are prepared to appear for sentencing on any future date the Court sets,” the letter said. “The People are also mindful that significant public safety and logistical steps by multiple agencies are necessary to prepare for court appearances in this matter.”
In asking for a delay last week, Trump’s lawyers questioned whether sentencing should take place after the start of early voting, arguing that the timing harms the integrity of the proceedings.
“Finally, setting aside naked election-interference objectives, there is no valid countervailing reason for the Court to keep the current sentencing date on the calendar. There is no basis for continuing to rush,” defense lawyers wrote.
(NEW YORK) — Former President Donald Trump’s advisers may have publicly insisted he doesn’t need any debate prep, but the former president is preparing more than he’s letting on, sources tell ABC News.
Trump is holding informal policy sessions with a small team of advisers, including GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz and former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who once challenged Vice President Kamala Harris on the debate stage in 2019, the sources said.
Gaetz has been firing questions at Trump around some of the more challenging issues, such as his legal troubles, including his federal indictments on election interference and retaining classified documents, criminal conviction in the New York hush-money case and stance on abortion, according to the sources.
Two people familiar with Trump’s preparation also told ABC News that Trump has been briefed on Harris’ past debates, including the headline-making moment when she hit back at former Vice President Mike Pence with the words, “Mr. Vice President, I’m speaking.” That exchange went viral then, and Trump has privately told his allies he won’t let that happen to him.
Sources told ABC News that Trump’s recent press address on Friday has left some on the GOP side with pre-debate concerns.
While Trump has continued with his campaign schedule, his movements on Friday puzzled some Republicans. Trump, following his appeal of the $5 million a federal jury awarded writer E. Jean Carroll after finding him liable for sexually assaulting and defaming her, came before the cameras rattling off — in often vivid detail — the accusations of sexual misconduct from multiple women over the years. All of which he has denied.
Meanwhile, as ABC News previously reported, Harris has been engaged in traditional debate prep in Pittsburgh.
The cameras caught her in the city on Sunday on a walk with second gentleman, Doug Emhoff. But, she ignored two shouted questions on Trump’s claims that he’ll jail his political opponents and how she plans to respond to personal attacks from Trump on the debate stage.
On Saturday, Trump posted on TruthSocial, writing, “… the 2024 Election, where Votes have just started being cast, will be under the closest professional scrutiny and, WHEN I WIN, those people that CHEATED will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the Law, which will include long term prison sentences so that this Depravity of Justice does not happen again.”
Trump’s false claims of election fraud in the 2020 election have continually been disproven.
Harris, on Sunday, did respond to a third question shouted at her by the media about whether she was ready by echoing, “ready,” and giving a thumbs up before disappearing around the side of a building.
In related news, Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance, will appear in the spin room following the debate, ABC News has confirmed.
The ABC News presidential debate will take place on Sept. 10 at 9 p.m. ET and air on ABC and stream on ABC News Live, Disney+ and Hulu.
