Jonathan Chait: “We know this because a very similar scandal occurred about a decade ago. Remember the Clinton Foundation? After the 43rd president left office, he established a charitable foundation to undertake good works: disaster relief, public health, and other largely uncontroversial endeavors.”

“But the Clinton Foundation became a political liability after reports suggested that it created a potential conflict of interest. Bill Clinton may have retired from elected office, but Hillary Clinton harbored widely known ambitions to run in the future. So the wealthy people and companies that donated to the foundation might have been hoping for access to and gratitude from a potential future president.”

President Trump’s family raked in more than $800 million from sales of crypto assets in the first half of 2025 alone, a Reuters examination found, on top of potentially billions more in unrealized “on paper” gains.

Much of that cash has come from foreign sources as Trump’s sons have touted their business on an international investor roadshow.

Matt Labash: “And if you’re fine with all that, you should ask yourself what’s broken inside of you. Because I can almost guarantee you that wherever you stand on the political spectrum, you wouldn’t have been fine with it ten or fifteen years ago.”

“The true danger of corruption isn’t merely that it’s evil. Because conscientious good people tend to react against evil. The real danger is that evil ceases to be regarded as such by otherwise good people. Rather, it just becomes the new normal. Our corruption Muzak. Something that is processed as background noise, then ignored.”

“Secretly recorded conversations indicate Frank Carone — a former top aide to Mayor Eric Adams who’s now boosting ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s mayoral bid — intervened on behalf of an alleged mob associate who was trying to get his suspended tow truck firm’s license reinstated,” The City reports.

“Former Democratic Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan was expected to report to prison Monday to begin serving a seven-and-a-half-year sentence,” NewsNation reports.

“The longtime political figure was convicted in February on 10 of 23 counts in a remarkable corruption trial that lasted four months. The case churned through 60 witnesses and mountains of documents, photographs and taped conversations.”

ProPublica: “A Pennsylvania businessman who had Tom Homan on his payroll led companies to believe his connections to the future border czar could help advance their bids for government work.”

Border czar Tom Homan appeared on Laura Ingraham’s show last night to discuss reports he accepted a bag with $50,000 in cash — but said only that he “did nothing criminal, nothing illegal,” while blaming MSNBC for a “hit piece.”

New York Times: “At the heart of their relationship are two multibillion-dollar deals. One involved a crypto company founded by the Witkoff and the Trump families that benefited both financially. The other involved a sale of valuable computer chips that benefited the Emirates economically.”

“While there is no evidence that one deal was explicitly offered in return for the other, the confluence of the two agreements is itself extraordinary. Taken together, they blurred the lines between personal and government business and raised questions about whether U.S. interests were served…”

“The Times found that the agreements were intertwined in ways that have not been previously reported and that they provoked concerns about conflicts of interest even from staff members in the Trump administration.”

“Nadine Menendez was sentenced to more than four years in prison for participating with her husband and former Sen. Bob Menendez in a corruption scheme to obtain expensive gifts and bribes including gold bars, a luxury car and $1 million in cash,” the Washington Post reports.

“Nadine Menendez, 58, was convicted in April for her part in the scheme, which also resulted in her husband’s conviction last year for bribery and other charges and sentencing in January to 11 years in prison.”

“New York City Mayor Eric Adams is saying he’s sorry for the controversy that has surrounded his administration over the past year amid allegations of corruption against the mayor and his associates,” ABC News reports.

Said Adams: “To those New Yorkers who have to pick up their paper and read this headline, all I can say is I’m sorry, and I’m committed to this city.”

“The former top aide to New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been charged in four separate bribery schemes, according to indictments released this morning by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office,” Politico reports.

“A former top City Hall advisor and current campaign confidante to Mayor Eric Adams attempted to give money to a reporter from The City following a campaign event in Harlem Wednesday,” The City reports.

“The failed payoff — a wad of cash in a red envelope stuffed inside an opened bag of Herr’s Sour Cream & Onion ripple potato chips — was made by Winnie Greco, a longtime Adams ally who resigned last year from her position as the mayor’s liaison to the Asian community after she was targeted in multiple investigations.“

“Several associates and supporters of Mayor Eric Adams are expected to face corruption charges in the coming days, in cases that could serve as a potent reminder of the scandals still marring his mayoralty,” the New York Times reports.

“The mayor, who is just months away from facing voters in his bid for a second term leading New York City, is not expected to be charged.”