Menendez allegedly received approximately $300,000 over the past nine years from the North Hudson Community Action Corporation.
New Jersey Senator Facing Ethics And Financial Probes
~ By Jeff McKay
CNSNews.com Correspondent
September 11, 2006
(CNSNews.com) - For the second time this year, a political appointee of New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine has come under fire for alleged improprieties. This time, the controversy could tilt the balance in one of the nation's most closely watched U.S. Senate races.
Federal investigators have subpoenaed records pertaining to the relationship between Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) and a nonprofit organization based in Union City, N.J.
Menendez allegedly received approximately $300,000 over the past nine years from the North Hudson Community Action Corporation.
That is the same group that allegedly entered into an arrangement with Menendez in 1994 to lease a property he owned in Union City. He initially charged the group $3,100 per month in rent, but then increased the rate to $4,000.
Meanwhile, Menendez is accused of using his position as the congressman representing that district, of helping the agency to win a special designation that allowed it to receive federal health care grants.
Menendez was a congressman for 14 years before being appointed by Corzine to serve out Corzine's remaining U.S. Senate term.
According to government records, the North Hudson Community Action Corporation has received approximately $9.6 million in federal grants since receiving the special designation. Published reports claim that nearly two-thirds of the organization's annual operating budget comes from the federal government.
Employees of the corporation, including the former head of the organization, have also reportedly contributed more than $30,000 to Menendez's prior congressional campaigns.
Tom Kean, Jr., the Republican challenging Menendez for his Senate seat, released a statement Friday citing the investigation as further evidence of corruption plaguing New Jersey politics.
"After years of embarrassment, it should be perfectly clear to New Jerseyans that we must have leaders with the highest ethical integrity," said Kean, son of former New Jersey Gov. Tom Kean, who also co-chaired the 9/11 Commission.
"Today's developments illustrate the need to clean up the corruption and scandal that has plagued Washington, D.C., and our state, so we can finally restore the public's faith in government," Kean said in the statement.
The subpoenas were brought by U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie, a Republican who had considered running for U.S. Senate in this election.
A spokesman in the U.S. Attorney's office declined to comment on "an ongoing investigation."
Menendez for Senate spokesman Matthew Miller released a statement arguing Menendez's actions were legal.
"This transaction was already approved by the House Ethics Committee, and the U.S. Attorney will find that Bob Menendez did nothing but support a well-respected agency in the exact same manner that he has supported other non-profits in the state," said Miller.
"We're troubled by the timing of this subpoena in the middle of a political campaign, but the facts are that the NHCAC has received federal funds for over [sic] 35 years because they provide education and health care services to New Jerseyans who need it [sic] the most," Miller added.
Democrats were quick to side with Menendez, who is battling Kean in a very tight election, questioning the motives behind the probe.
Menendez, Corzine, and many leading state Democrats cloistered together at a three-day Democratic gathering in Atlantic City when news broke about the probe.
Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) said the timing of the probe launched by Christie's office "suggests something sinister," a charge echoed by Albio Sires, a Democrat running for Menendez's former congressional seat.
Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) also went on the attack, releasing a statement saying Kean is merely trying to divert attention from his connection to President Bush.
"From day one of this campaign, Tom Kean Jr. has relied on smears to cover up his own ties to George Bush and gloss over Republican failures on gas prices, spending and Iraq," Schumer asserted. "Mr. Kean is using the GOP attack machine to divert attention from his advocacy for a Bush agenda that is wrong for New Jersey. It's a despicable tactic that will backfire."
Menendez has been an outspoken critic of the war in Iraq, demanding that all U.S. troops be pulled out within one year and calling for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to resign.
In an unrelated matter, two New Jersey state senators charge that Menendez violated ethics rules by trying to block a merger involving a company in which he holds stock.
In 2003, Menendez sponsored legislation to ban media mergers he said would create monopolies in Spanish-language broadcasting. At the time, he owned stock in Spanish Broadcasting System, Inc. (SBS).
The merger ultimately went through, and the stock Menendez owned dropped, which he reportedly sold at a loss.
According to Federal Election Commission reports, Menendez has also received political campaign contributions totaling nearly $25,000 from SBS.
The three most recent polls show the race between Menendez and Kean with no clear leader.
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1 Comment:
CNS is a Republican propoganda joke along the lines of NewsMax or Matt Drudge. They wouldn't know a journalistic ethic if one came up and bit them in the ankle.
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