Menendez questions
timing of reported
federal probe
By BETH DeFALCO,
phillyBurbs.com from the Web, September 10, 2006
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. Sept 8 --
Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez on Friday questioned the timing of subpoenas
reportedly issued by the U.S. attorney's office to examine the records of a
Hudson County nonprofit agency he rented space to and for which he helped obtain
federal grants.
Menendez is locked in a very close race with Republican challenger Tom Kean Jr.,
who has repeatedly questioned his ethics. The U.S. attorney, Christopher
Christie, is an appointee of President Bush.
In a speech here before the Democratic State Committee, Menendez blasted Kean
and said his ethical smears are straight out of the GOP playbook used by
President Bush and White House political strategist Karl Rove.
"We have seen an orchestrated series of leaks, bogus ethics complaints and
outright fabrications since the beginning of this campaign," Menendez said.
Kean campaign spokeswoman Jill Hazelbaker said she found Menendez's speech
"disturbing."
"Despite being under investigation by federal authorities, Bob Menendez refuses
to take responsibility for his ethical failings," she said.
Other Democrats, including Gov. Jon S. Corzine, also questioned the timing of
the investigation, but Seton Hall University political scientist Joseph Marbach
said Christie has a good reputation for being nonpartisan in his investigations,
having gone after both Democrats and Republicans.
"Christie has usually moved in a timely fashion on investigations, and this is
consistent with his previous policies," Marbach added.
Citing unnamed sources, WNBC-TV in New York and The Star-Ledger of Newark
reported that federal investigators subpoenaed the records of the North Hudson
Community Action Corp. earlier this week.
A spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office, Michael Drewniak, said the office
will neither confirm or deny any investigation. The FBI office in Newark
would not comment. Telephone calls left with Community Action Corp.
spokesman Joseph Lauro and the nonprofit's president, Christopher Irizarry, were
not immediately returned.
Menendez campaign spokesman Matthew Miller said the senator has neither seen the
subpoenas nor talked to the organization about the investigation.
Republicans have alleged that Menendez violated congressional ethics rules by
collecting more than $300,000 in rent from the organization while he was a
member of the House of Representatives and helped it win millions of dollars in
federal grants.
Last month, two Republican state lawmakers signed a federal ethics complaint
alleging Menendez violated conflict-of-interest rules in his dual role as
landlord and lawmaker. They asked a Senate ethics panel to review the
complaint.
Menendez has said he obtained verbal clearance from the House Ethics Committee
in 1994 before entering a lease agreement with the organization. After his
speech, Menendez said he obtained the clearance from Mark Davis, who served as
the committee's counsel. Davis died last year.
Corzine, who appointed Menendez in January to serve out the remaining year of
his own Senate term, said the investigation "has the appearance of being less
than objective."
Corzine said there has been no call for replacing Menendez on the ballot with
another Democrat. In 2002, Democrats replaced Sen. Robert Torricelli with
Frank Lautenberg after Torricelli pulled out of the race amid an ethics scandal.
Rider University political scientist David Rebovich said Christie's office
should try to resolve the issue as soon as possible.
"If indeed, as Sen. Menendez argues, there was nothing wrong, that needs to be
put out there quickly," Rebovich said. "If this investigation takes us
through Election Day, then I think there are going to be questions raised."
Rebovich said the bad publicity doesn't necessarily swing voters from one
candidate to the other, but it can make undecided voters lean toward Kean.
Republicans have tried to convince Christie to run for political office but he
has not taken them up on his offer. Christie was touted as a gubernatorial
candidate last year and also as a U.S. Senate candidate for this year.
Associated Press Writer Donna De La Cruz in Washington
contributed to this report.
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