Reports: More subpoenas issued in Menendez investigation

According to reporting from Hudson County View and NBC News, another round of subpoenas has been issued in the ongoing investigation into U.S. Senator Bob Menendez, with one of the recipients reportedly being State Sen./North Bergen Mayor Nicholas Sacco.

Since last October, the District Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York has been investigating the three-term Democratic senator – five years after a jury deadlocked on previous corruption charges against Menendez. According to the New York Times and other outlets, the current investigation is focusing on Menendez’s ties to IS EG Halal, an Edgewater-based meat company.

But as reported by Hudson County View yesterday, the new subpoenas appear to be unrelated to the halal company; it’s not clear what their focus is on instead. Menendez’s office declined to comment to both Hudson County View and NBC News.

In a statement, Sacco spokesman Phil Swibinski said that Sacco is cooperating with the investigation but is not a target himself.

“On Wednesday morning Mayor Sacco was issued a subpoena seeking information and records regarding several different matters that he was informed are being sought in connection to an ongoing investigation that is not related to him,” Swibinski said. “Mayor Sacco has been assured that he is not a target of the investigation and was approached only as a potential witness, and he intends to cooperate fully and provide any requested information as he would with any law enforcement inquiry. As this is an ongoing legal matter, Mayor Sacco will not be making any additional comment.”

This story was updated at 8:43 a.m. with a new statement from Sacco.