Robert Menendez

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Robert Menendez

DSCC Chair Won't Discuss Greene Mystery, Says It's State Party Matter

Christina Bellantoni | June 10, 2010, 5:31PM

Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ)

The chairman of the Senate Democrats' campaign arm would say little about allegations surrounding Alvin Greene's mysterious Senate candidacy in South Carolina, telling reporters today it is a matter for the state party to handle.

Asked by TPM about Greene and the South Carolina Democrats' call for him to step aside at a briefing today, Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) put both hands out in protest. He dodged several questions about charges from Rep. James Clyburn and the state party that Greene may not be a legitimate candidate, saying the "appropriate officials" are looking into it. He wouldn't answer a TPM question about whether he supports the state party, which is calling for Greene to step aside despite winning the primary Tuesday night.

The bottom line is that Democrats recognize it's not going to be a competitive race to challenge Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC), regardless of the candidate chosen as his rival. Menendez said the party is "not engaged there" and that it is "not a place that I am focused on."

"I will allow the South Carolina Democratic Party and Congressman Clyburn, who I serve with and I know can be tenacious, to continue to pursue it and we will look at," Menendez said.

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Topics: 2010 Elections, Alvin Greene, James Clyburn, Robert Menendez, South Carolina, South Carolina Democratic Party

Lisa Murkowski

Murkowski, Oil Lobby Block Effort To Make Industry Fully Pay For Spills

Zachary Roth | May 14, 2010, 10:01AM

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)

Even in a Washington as dominated by corporate money as today's, it's not often that you see a lawmaker side with financial backers over the public interest as brazenly as Alaska's senior senator did yesterday.

In the wake of last month's catastrophic Gulf Coast oil spill, Sen. Lisa Murkowski blocked a bill that would have raised the maximum liability for oil companies after a spill from a paltry $75 million to $10 billion. The Republican lawmaker said the bill, introduced by Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ), would have unfairly hurt smaller oil companies by raising the costs of oil production. The legislation is "not where we need to be right now" she said.

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Topics: BP, Lisa Murkowski, Lobbyists, Oil, Oil spill, Robert Menendez

Ethics

WSJ: Menendez Intervened For Bank Run By Big Contributors

Justin Elliott | February 10, 2010, 6:33PM

Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ)

Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) sent a letter last year asking the Fed to make a ruling that would have saved a New Jersey bank whose chairman gave $30,000 to the senator in the past decade, the Wall Street Journal reports.

In a statement to the Journal, Menendez said he was properly representing his constituents' interests when he asked the Fed to approve the sale of First BankAmericano to another bank.

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Topics: Ethics, Robert Menendez

Chris Christie

Did Christie Politicize U.S. Attorney's Office?

Zachary Roth | October 20, 2009, 2:00PM

NJ Gov. Candidate Chris Christie (R) and his fmr. top aide Michele Brown

Back in August, when it was revealed that Chris Christie had given an unreported $46,000 loan to Michele Brown, his top deputy at the US attorney's office, we had a sense there was more to the story than we'd yet learned.

And today's revelations from the New York Times help fill out the picture. Simply put, a close look at the unusually close relationship between the two -- as well as at other evidence that Christie retains ties to his former colleagues in the prosecutors' office -- strongly suggests that in the service of his bid for governor, he may have improperly politicized an office that's supposed to be an independent administrator of justice.

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Topics: Chris Christie, Jon Corzine, Michele Brown, Ralph Marra, Robert Menendez, U.S. Attorneys

Feds Probing Dem Sen. Relationship to Former Aide

Paul Kiel | November 1, 2007, 1:38PM

As the feds are bearing down hard on Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK), raiding his Alaska home and convening a grand jury in Washington, D.C., another investigation into a sitting senator has been proceeding quietly up in New Jersey.

Over the past several months, the U.S. attorney's office in New Jersey has issued two grand jury subpoenas to former clients of Kay LiCausi, a lobbyist and former aide to Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ). The investigation, of course, is no secret, but after a controversy raged over subpoenas issued shortly before the 2006 election, the investigation has shifted direction entirely. Now the focus seems to be whether Menendez steered lobbying contracts to his former girlfriend and then delivered government funds to those client once they'd hired her.

It's never been confirmed that LiCausi and Menendez, who's divorced, were in a romantic relationship. But the rumors were such that The New York Times didn't hesitate to report in 2005 on "the widespread belief" in New Jersey and among Menendez's former staffers that they were. And Menendez himself has never denied it, always answering queries with "that's strictly personal." Reports of the relationship have always been phrased in the past tense since 2005.

LiCausi started work for Menendez back when he was in the House in 1998. She was 26. Four years later she left with the title of chief of staff of his New Jersey office, a position that the Times called "midlevel" -- she supervised six people. But immediately she began raking in some hefty contracts, not only as a lobbyist, but also as a fundraiser for Menendez and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Menendez admitted to the Times that he'd "encouraged" the DCCC to hire her for the $10,000 a month spot. And no doubt he was responsible for the work on his political committees, where she was also making another $10,000 a month fundraising for both his political action committee and his campaign. And then there were the lobbying contracts which also rolled in.

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Topics: Robert Menendez

Robert Menendez

NJ Scandal: Wake Us When It's Over

Justin Rood | September 8, 2006, 1:12PM

So, what's going on in New Jersey?

A U.S. attorney is investigating the arrangement between U.S. Senate incumbent Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and a community charity who rents out his former Union City home, the Newark Star-Ledger reports today.

"[S]ure to rock New Jersey's hotly contested Senate race" is how the Star-Ledger described the revelation.

Far be it from me to question a paper's motives. But I note that the Star-Ledger broke the story of the unethical arrangement two weeks ago, reporting that the senator helped the group qualify to apply for a federal grant program. So they may have a bit of institutional ego wrapped up in seeing a federal investigation boost the fiasco.

Others have been less excitable about the flap. Here's how the Philadelphia Inquirer reacted to the Menendez-NHCA relationship: