The long-running investigation had focused on Menendez's relationship with the North Hudson Community Action Corp., a nonprofit agency that rented office space from him
U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) in this 2010 file photo. Menendez was recently informed his 2006 corruption probe has been closed. The federal subpoena delivered to a Hudson County nonprofit agency five years ago amounted to a political bombshell, signaling the start of a corruption probe into U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez just as he entered the final stretch of a fierce re-election fight.
Menendez’s opponent, state Sen. Tom Kean Jr., and other Republicans used the investigation like a cudgel, hammering at the incumbent’s integrity. Democrats accused Chris Christie, then U.S. attorney, of orchestrating a smear campaign to boost his party’s chances.
While Menendez went on to win the 2006 election, riding a wave of voter anger over the war in Iraq, the status of the investigation remained an open question.
Now that question is answered.
In a letter sent to Menendez’s lawyer, the U.S. attorney for the eastern district of Pennsylvania said the case has been quietly closed.
"After review and consideration of the matter transferred to me, I have decided to close the file," U.S. Attorney Zane David Memeger wrote in the Oct. 5 letter, co-signed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard P. Barrett.
A law enforcement official with knowledge of the case said the probe was transferred to the Philadelphia office in 2009, when defense lawyer Paul Fishman was appointed U.S. attorney for New Jersey.
Fishman, a former federal prosecutor, recused himself from the investigation to avoid a conflict because Menendez had backed him for the high-profile post, according to the law-enforcement official, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.
It’s highly unusual for federal prosecutors to issue letters clearing targets of investigations, but they’ve now done so twice in two months.
In September, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Newark informed Joseph Doria he wouldn’t face charges in connection with a sweeping corruption and money-laundering probe that resulted in the arrests of 46 people two years ago.
Doria, whose home was searched by the FBI after officials determined that he had met with informant Solomon Dwek, swiftly resigned his post as head of the state Department of Community Affairs.
Menendez declined to comment on his letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Star-Ledger.
New Jersey U.S. attorney Paul Fishman recused himself from the investigation.The letter indicates that Menendez’s lawyer, Marc Elias, had pressed Memeger in phone calls for an update on the investigation. Prosecutors typically don’t respond to such requests.
"It’s very rare," said Jay Fahy, who headed the corruption unit at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Newark and who later served as Bergen County prosecutor.
Now in private practice, Fahy said he could recall just a handful of cases, including Doria’s, in which a U.S. attorney had written such letters.
"It’s done in cases where it’s a public figure or a semi-public figure, and the mere mention of the dropping of a subpoena or a search warrant ruins the person’s reputation," he said.
The letter to Menendez does not explicitly say he has been cleared of wrongdoing, but Fahy said it amounts to a "de facto exoneration."
"U.S. attorneys don’t give out these letters unless they’re sure," he said. "It doesn’t say it’s an exoneration, but in reality, it’s an exoneration."
The decision to close the case is also likely to give Menendez surer footing if he seeks re-election next year, as expected.
The long-running investigation focused on the relationship between Menendez and the North Hudson Community Action Corp., a nonprofit agency that rented office space from him in Union City for nearly a decade.
Menendez collected more than $300,000 in rent from the group between 1994 and 2003. As a member of the House of Representatives at the time, Menendez helped the group secure millions of dollars in funding, leading to suggestions of a quid pro quo.
He said the rental agreement had been preapproved by the House ethics committee and maintained that it was appropriate.
But when word of the subpoena leaked out, Republican critics used it as a campaign wedge. And with control of the U.S. Senate in doubt, the criticism wasn’t limited to New Jersey. A spokesman for the Republican National Committee, for example, condemned Menendez for his "links to corruption."
Menendez, then a Senate appointee seeking his first full term, fired back, suggesting that Kean and Christie had colluded to tip the election toward the Republicans, a claim both men have vehemently denied.
Democrats, including then-Gov. Jon Corzine, joined in Menendez’s defense.
"As far as I know, the only thing that’s been unfair so far is public revealing of subpoenas 60 days in front of an election," Corzine said.
Menendez went on to win the race, one of the nastiest in years, by eight percentage points.