Senate Judiciary Committee member Michael Testa announced today that he sent a joint letter with the full Senate Republican Caucus to Senate President Nicholas Scutari calling for an investigation by the Senate Judiciary Committee (SJU) into the Attorney General’s Office’s handling of a 2019 criminal prosecution. Senator Testa initially called for an investigation on September 22 when news about the Menendez indictment first broke.

Sen. Testa sent a joint letter with the full Senate Republican Caucus to Senate President Nicholas Scutari calling for an investigation by the SJU into the Attorney General’s Office’s handling of a 2019 criminal prosecution. (Pixabay)

“When there are allegations of egregious behavior taking place within State offices the public deserves to know the truth. It would be a gross dereliction of duty to ignore these allegations. The public deserves to know whether certain protocols were followed at the Attorney General’s Office so we can protect the integrity of our legal institutions through legislative action,” said Senator and Judiciary Committee Member Michael Testa (R-1). “It is time for the Senate to return to Trenton so the Judiciary Committee can do its job and provide oversight where it is clearly needed. I hope that our Democratic colleagues join us in supporting this effort to answer the public’s call to action.”

The letter sent by Sen. Testa and the Senate Republican Caucus outlines certain concerning events involving the New Jersey Office of Attorney General that were brought to light in the indictment of U.S. Senator Bob Menendez.

“The full Senate must adopt a resolution authorizing the Senate Judiciary Committee to investigate claims of corruption so that we can enact the necessary legislative reforms to protect our state,” Testa added. “We have a constitutional duty to investigate these events that took place within our public offices. New Jerseyans have a right to know whether our officials at the Attorney General’s Office were compromised by the allegations against Senator Menendez.”

(Click Here for a PDF of the letter sent to Senate President Nicholas Scutari)