Senator Bob Menendez who has been a mentor to Mayor Sam Joshi and took the extraordinary measure of endorsing and campaigning for him in 2021; has been found guilty on all 16 counts of his federal corruption trial, including bribery, extortion, wire fraud, obstruction of justice and acting as a foreign agent.
The verdict is a staggering blow for the Democratic establishment in New Jersey, where longtime powerbroker George Norcross was charged in a separate racketeering indictment less than a month ago, and after several committee members are calling on the Attorney General to investigate an alleged $20k bribe that took place during the June 27th Edison Democratic Committee re-organization.
US attorney Damian Williams, said after the verdict “This wasn’t politics as usual; this was politics for profit.” In exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, gold bars, a car and mortgage payments, Menendez helped steer billions in US aid to Egypt, where one of the businessmen, Wael Hana, had ties to government officials, according to prosecutors. Sentencing for the disgraced Senator is scheduled for October 29th.
Mayor Joshi has recently been under scrutiny himself for failing to file his quarterly reports with the New Jersey Law Enforcement Election Commission as required by state statute. According to NJELEC records the Election Fund of Mayor Joshi, has not filed the required reports for the last four quarters. The last report on record was filed on 4/16/24 for Quarter 2, 2023 and remains four quarters behind.
Councilman Rich Brescher who has publicly questioned the Mayor’s financial disclosures and raised the question of possible pay to play violations said “we know Senator Menendez was one of the Mayor Joshi’s earliest and strongest supporters, it is imperative that the Mayor file his required financial disclosures immediately so we can see where his money is coming from.”
Mayor Joshi has not commented on his close friend and mentor since his indictment was first announced in September of 2023. He has also not addressed why he hasn’t filed his required financial disclosures despite a press release in February of 2024 stating he had raised $200,800 in the first month of 2024. As of his last filed report for Q2 2023 Joshi had only reported $46,465.47 on hand.
