MOUNTAINSIDE, NJ — Democrats in Washington are preparing their newest pitch to voters: cracking down on corruption by public officials. The proposals include a rewrite of federal statutes that allowed corrupt politicians, like Senator Bob Menendez, to avoid convictions on bribery and pay-to-play allegations. U.S. Senate candidate Bob Hugin released the following statement:

“I agree with Democrats in Washington that Senator Menendez’s unethical behavior, which violated federal law and Senate Rules as confirmed last month by the bipartisan Senate Ethics Committee, should have no place in Congress,” said Hugin. “Corruption of any kind at any level of government is unacceptable and should not be tolerated. As Senator, I will work with non-partisan, good government watchdogs, and honest people on both sides of the aisle to restore faith and trust in our government by making sure corrupt politicians are held accountable and are forced to live by the same laws the rest of us do.”

BACKGROUND:

• MENENDEZ WOULD HAVE SERVED 97 MONTHS FOR HIS $1 MILLION IN GIFTS | Menendez introduced the RESTORING TRUST IN PUBLIC SERVICE ACT, which would have established mandatory minimum sentences based on the amount of gifts unjustly received by a public official. Under his own legislation, Menendez would have had to serve 97 months for illegally accepting over $1 million in gifts from Dr. Salomon Melgen.

• EVEN MENENDEZ COLLEAGUES NOTED HIS WRONG DOING |Legislation supported by Menendez included the HONEST LEADERSHIP AND OPEN GOVERNMENT ACT OF 2007. Menendez’s colleagues on the Senate Ethics Committee stated in a BIPARTISAN LETTER that his “repeated acceptance of private plane flights from Dr. Melgen is particularly troubling given that it coincided with the passage and implementation of the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007, a law passed in response to an ethics scandal and aimed at severely curtailing public officials’ acceptance of free travel on private planes,” a law Menendez supported.

• SENATE ETHICS COMMITTEE: MENENDEZ IS GUILTY | The Senate Ethics committee released a Public Letter of Admonition signed unanimously by both Republicans and Democrats to Senator Bob Menendez that, after a thorough and complete investigation, concluded his actions violated federal law, violated Senate Rules, and brought discredit upon the Senate.

Bob Hugin, a Marine Corps Veteran and business leader who has created thousands of New Jersey jobs, is seeking the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate to challenge incumbent Democrat Senator Bob Menendez.

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