On Wednesday, Edison Mayor Candidate Mahesh Bhagia, who was endorsed by the Edison Democratic Organization in a landslide victory and is widely considered the frontrunner in the Edison Mayoral race, issued the following statement regarding the investigation into the racial flier from 2017:

“The racial flier was shameful and deplorable, and I was personally offended when I saw it. I also believe creating a sham investigation of the flyer to further personal political ambitions and target political opponents is equally shameful and deplorable. For nearly three and half years now, I have watched with disgust as the Edison Council fumbled around and took part in a politicized witch hunt instead of searching for facts and the truth.

“For the record, I have testified, under oath, before the committee of the whole and answered all the questions posed to me. In contrast, the ones who benefited the most from this flier which was circulated during their political campaign in 2017 – Edison Mayor Tom Lankey, Councilmembers Sam Joshi, Bob Diehl, and Alvaro Gomez – have yet to testify under oath. The attacks against me are wholly untrue and are being spread by politicians who have at every turn opposed the reforms we seek. Councilmembers Bob Diehl, Sam Joshi, Ajay Patil, along with Mayor Lankey are more interested in holding on to power, at any cost, instead of doing their jobs on behalf of Edison residents.

Here are the facts:

1. Potential suspects in this case are running the investigation. In no other situation would this be considered fair or acceptable. Lankey, Diehl, Joshi, and Gomez benefited from the racist flier. In contrast, in 2017, I was not on the ballot and had no reason to participate in the creation of the fliers.

2. Lankey, Diehl, Joshi, and Gomez have never testified under oath. In contrast, I testified under oath before the committee for hours.

3. Sam Joshi politicized this issue from day 1, even going so far as to handle direct evidence without proper chain of custody, and potentially impairing an investigation by actual law enforcement.

4. The allegations keep changing. First the Committee stated that the fliers were made at Chowpatty Restaurant. Then, when I declared my campaign for Mayor, overnight, Joshi changed the story and alleged it was made in my basement.

5. In a desperate effort to keep power, Lankey, Diehl, and Joshi are now attacking Attorney General Grewal, a man of impeccable character.

6. Sam Joshi has compromised this investigation beyond repair by leaking misleading evidence and sitting on the Committee despite his clear conflicts of interest. I echo Councilman Joe Coyle’s recent demand that Joshi be removed from the Committee of the Whole for compromising the investigation and wasting years’ worth of taxpayer dollars.

“This investigation should be run by real law enforcement, not political hacks who have run Edison into the ground. Our taxes are too high, our water system is broken, our schools are overcrowded, and Edison politics is conducted in backrooms with special interest groups.

We are going to change that, despite the best efforts of Lankey, Diehl, Joshi, and Gomez to preserve the status quo. They have no record to stand on, and so they resort to slinging mud. But Edison voters will not be duped by them again.”