Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla is taking aim at the Menendezes over the “No Foreign Emoluments Without Congressional Consent Act,” calling on his June 4th primary opponent to sponsor the bill that would impact his father.
Bhalla is pledging to sponsor the bill, which was introduced by U.S. Reps. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) and Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), “would enforce the Constitution’s explicit language banning foreign emoluments.”
This would apply to essentially all federal officials, both elected and appointed, and would prevent them from accepting payments from foreign governments, including through business transactions, without first obtaining the consent of Congress.
Therefore, it would apply to former President Donald Trump, U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX), and U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ), the latter who is accused of acting as a foreign agent to Egypt and trying to facilitate a development deal with the Qatar government.
“As our founders recognized, we cannot allow foreign governments to influence federal policy by direct, illegal payments to elected and appointed officials. The No Foreign Emoluments without Congressional Consent Act provides a strong deterrent for any official who is tempted to cash in. I strongly support it and will co-sponsor it as a member of Congress,” Bhalla said in a statement.
“I call on Rob Menendez Jr to publicly support the No Emoluments without Congressional Consent Act and sign on as a co-sponsor. It’s time for Rob Menendez Jr to put national security ahead of his father, Senator Bob Menendez’s interests.”
Similarly, Bhalla said last month that he would support the GUARD Act and asked Congressman Menendez to follow suit.
Bhalla is seeking to unseat the younger Menendez next week, who has recently returned fire with a TV ad where he says “my opponent wants to run against my father because he’s scared to run against me.”
The two will square off in a head-to-head debate at Hudson Media Group at 6 p.m., with this reporter serving as the moderator. The event will stream live on Facebook and YouTube.