Robert Menendez in The Jersey Sting, by Sherman & Margolin

On Principles & Values: Child of Cuban emigrants

In the heated 2006 US Senate race, Democratic incumbent Robert Menendez was running against Tom Kean Jr., the son of the popular former governor. The election pitted the First Family of NJ against the child of Cuban emigrants who had clawed his way to the top of the political food chain. At the time, Menendez--the de facto political boss of Hudson County--was trying to run away from a pedigree that can kill a candidate in the white-bread suburbs of NJ horse country. Source: The Jersey Sting, by Sherman & Margolin, p.157 Apr 10, 2012

On Principles & Values: 2006: Investigated for grants to community service agency

Menendez and the US Attorney's office had a long history. In 1980, Menendez was used by prosecutors in that office to help them convict Menendez's mentor, Bill Musto, at the time a state senator and the occupant of the Union City's mayor office that Menendez would ultimately take over.

More than 25 years after the Musto affair, the US Attorney's office--under the control of Chris Christie--took on an even more central role in Menendez's life. That time, he looked to be the hunted. Two months before that election, federal prosecutors very publicly subpoenaed records connected to a rental deal between Menendez and a community-service agency that won federal grants. The controversial subpoena would multiply into a small series and it became a critical element of the election. Democrats accused Chris Christie of issuing the subpoena specifically to affect the election.

Source: The Jersey Sting, by Sherman & Margolin, p.260-261 Apr 10, 2012

The above quotations are from The Jersey Sting Chris Christie and the Most Brazen Case of Jersey-Style Corruption--Ever by Ted Sherman & Josh Margolin. Click here for other excerpts from The Jersey Sting Chris Christie and the Most Brazen Case of Jersey-Style Corruption--Ever by Ted Sherman & Josh Margolin. Click here for other excerpts by Robert Menendez. Click here for other excerpts by other Governors.
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Page last updated: Jul 12, 2015