More than a dozen Republican state senators on Tuesday called on Democratic leadership in Trenton to open an independent investigation by the Senate Judiciary Committee. “It’s no secret that the indictment alleges Senator Menendez tried to use his elected office as a means to pressure our State Attorney General to influence the outcome of a criminal prosecution,” state Sen. Anthony Bucco (R-Morris) said in a statement. “We are respectfully requesting that we retain special counsel and subpoena power to ensure that the Office was not, and has not, been compromised by the influence peddling of Senator Menendez.”
The attorney general’s office did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday. But on the day the indictment was unsealed, current state Attorney General Matt Platkin said in a statement that his office has been cooperating with federal investigators and had also launched an internal probe into the allegations.
