Middletown, May 14...Joe Kryillos, U. S. Senate Republican candidate released the following statement on Monday, May 14 about his opponent, Democrat Senator Bob Menedez.
"Most people are under the assumption that Bob Menendez is returning all of the $98,600 that was illegally contributed to him by convicted felon Joseph Bigica. According to recent press reports however, Menendez is only giving back $18,800.
"Last week, the U.S. Attorney's office stated that these contributions were illegally bundled by Bigica using straw donors.
"Menendez received $98,600 in illegal funds-- he is returning $18,800 of it. It's simple math-- what about to the other $79,800?" said campaign manager Chapin Fay.
"He has more than $9 million in the bank. All of the money was donated illegally and thus all should be returned or donated to a worthy cause. There is no way to justify keeping the rest of this money, regardless what fund-raising cycle it came from.
"If Menendez will not give the voters of New Jersey a complete and detailed explanation of his relationship with this long-time donor and supporter-- he should at least do the fair thing and return all of the illegally contributed funds."
