Jackson: Menendezs defense fund rises along with his prominence JULY 20, 2014, 10:18 PM LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, JULY 20, 2014, 10:19 PM BY HERB JACKSON RECORD COLUMNIST THE RECORD Print PAGES: 1 2 > DISPLAY ON ONE PAGE As he battles investigations into claims that he favored one wealthy donor, dozens more have helped Sen. Bob Menendez in that legal fight, adding $308,000 to his defense fund, according to disclosure forms released last week. The 41 donations highlight Menendez’s rise to power and prominence as he climbed the ladder from a local politician trying to steer resources to the Hudson River waterfront to an anti-Castro, pro-Israel player on a global stage as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Some donors have longstanding ties to Menendez and may have given in recognition of his work in the past on their behalf. Others may be looking to Menendez’s ability to further their causes in the future, particularly as he sets the Senate agenda on foreign policy and becomes an increasingly potent voice in support of Israel and against Cuba. The biggest contributions to Menendez came from a Hoboken developer and from 16 leaders of the nation’s most powerful pro-Israel advocacy group. Checks also came from the leader of a national anti-Castro organization, the Cuban-born chairman of a Spanish-language television station, and a Bridgewater real estate management company that also contributed to an earlier legal fund created by Menendez. The disclosure report reflects how politics is practiced today: Politicians take actions or trumpet issues, and people who support those positions or benefit from those actions make contributions. The irony is that this time the contributions are going to an account devoted to defending Menendez from questions about his actions in connection with another contributor. Menendez’s office said no fundraising events were held. Rather, supporters came to him as early as last winter and offered to contribute and to raise money. Messages left by phone, email or both for key donors David Barry, Luis Echarte, David Steiner and Stacy Schusterman were not returned. Echarte said through his spokesman that he wouldn’t comment, and a spokesman for another donor, Jorge Mas, said Mas was traveling outside the country. Contact information for the other contributors could not be obtained. “It is not a surprise that individuals who share the senator’s positions on issues that matter to them would contribute,” spokeswoman Tricia Enright said. The Record’s analysis of the contribution lists found that 16 people who are current or former members of the board of directors of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee donated a combined $107,500, with the contributions all recorded on the same day, April 14. Menendez has long been a supporter of policies to protect Israel. For example, he has been pressuring the Obama administration to take a tough stance in negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program before economic sanctions against Iran are relaxed — sanctions required by a law Menendez sponsored. On Sunday Menendez appeared on Fox News, after Secretary of State John Kerry, and criticized the administrations decision to release $2.8 billion in frozen Iranian assets as part of extending negotiations past an earlier deadline. “I’m not a big proponent of paying to negotiate, and the $2.8 billion we are giving Iran in essence to continue to negotiate – which is in their own interest – is pretty preposterous to me,” he said. He has also been a speaker at the annual AIPAC conference in Washington, which this year drew 14,000 attendees. His office said that some of the supporters who offered to help were active in AIPAC or other organizations and had longstanding relationships with him, but none came under the auspices of AIPAC. The AIPAC-connected contributors include David Steiner, a West Orange investor and former president of the group and current member of the Port Authority board of commissioners. He gave $10,000 to the defense fund and $20,700 to Menendez campaigns over the years, according to opensecrets.org. In all, 30 of the 41 donors had given previously to Menendez, a Democrat from Paramus. Some also contributed to Republican candidates and to causes Menendez opposes, according to opensecrets.org and followthemoney.org. For example, Andrew and Raquel Shechtel of Princeton, who gave $20,000 to the defense fund, first contributed to Menendez in 2012, when they gave $10,100. That same year, however, they gave a combined $120,000 to Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign and the Republican National Committee. Stacy Schusterman of Tulsa, Okla., gave $10,000 to the defense fund and $500 to Menendez’s 2012 reelection, but she gave $57,500 to Romney and the national party, plus $10,000 to the Boehner for Speaker Committee and $50,000 to groups opposed to gay marriage. Schusterman, chairwoman of an energy investment firm, and Andrew Shechtel, a hedge fund manager, are both wealthy philanthropists whose gifts support Israel and promote Jewish life and culture. Their contributions were also recorded on April 14. Some defense fund contributors are longtime Menendez supporters. KRE Property Management of Bridgewater, for example, gave $10,000 to the defense fund and $5,000 in 2012 to the Fund to Uphold the Constitution, a legal defense account Menendez created to challenge, successfully, an attempt by members of the Tea Party movement to recall him from office. KRE’s chairman, Murray Kushner, gave $25,100 to Menendez during previous campaigns. Members of the Barry family and other executives of Applied Development in Hoboken gave $50,000 to the defense fund and had previously given at least $78,000 to Menendez campaigns. Ironstate Holdings, a company at the same address run by the Barry family, gave $10,000 to the Fund to Uphold the Constitution. Applied’s projects include luxury apartments, condominiums, retail space and a hotel along the Hudson waterfront, a part of Menendez’s old congressional district that he worked for years to get federal grants for improvements and ferry and light rail service. Jorge Mas, the chairman of the Cuban American National Foundation who in a February letter to the Miami Herald praised Menendez’s work on a 1996 law, contributed $10,000 to the defense fund and $19,200 to previous Menendez campaigns. Luis Echarte, the Cuban-born chairman of Azteca America, a Spanish-language television station owned by Mexico-based Grupo Salinas, also gave $10,000 to the defense fund and gave $17,100 to Menendez previously. Federal authorities, who twice raided the offices of Salomon Melgen in 2013, are looking at actions Menendez took in connection with Melgen’s interests, according to the Washington Post and Miami Herald. Melgen, an eye specialist, is a personal friend of Menendez’s and has given nearly $1 million to Menendez campaigns and committees he controlled or benefited from in the past eight years. Menendez questioned Medicare officials about a disputed regulation that Melgen relied on to receive lucrative reimbursements. And Menendez questioned State and Homeland Security department officials about a Dominican cargo-screening security contract held by a company in which Melgen was an investor. - See more at: northjersey/news/jackson-menendez-s-defense-fund-rises-along-with-his-prominence-1.1054459#sthash.6k3rulbA.dpuf
Posted on: Mon, 21 Jul 2014 12:49:52 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015