With less than two weeks to go before the June 2nd Democratic primary, U.S. Rep. Rob Menendez (D-8) is punching challenger Mussab Ali for reporting zero dollars in income this year: “He’s lying.”
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“Over the course of this campaign, Mussab has lied to voters and hidden information from them countless times. Mussab filed a legally required financial disclosure form claiming he doesn’t have a job or income,” Menendez told HCV.
“Now Mussab is saying he is an executive at a California-based tech start-up, getting paid in stock. Either he was lying on the form or he’s lying now. Either way, he’s lying. This is simply about transparency – something Mussab has failed at throughout this campaign.”
Ali’s financial disclosure form, submitted on May 6th with the clerk of the House of Representatives, reports no income from both Rutgers University and Emplova LLC, a New York-based human resource consulting firm.
Last year, he reported earning $45,000 and $31,926, respectively, listing tax-deferred income with the Van Guard Total Treasury ETF between $1,001 and $15,000 in 2026.
Menendez requested an extension on his 2026 financial disclosure filing, which the clerk of the House of Representatives allows all candidates for Congress to select as an option.
His campaign said today said his latest filing will be nearly identical to past ones.
“Mussab left his previous roles on his own terms to pursue this campaign. He is currently working at a company that helps government suppliers increase diversity which particularly benefits communities like those that call the 8th District home,” Ali for Congress campaign manager Manny Antunes said in an email.
When asked for specifics about Ali’s potential employment as a chief legal officer at a stealth startup company, he did not provide any and instead took aim at Menendez.
“While Mussab isn’t in a financial position to give up work to run for Congress because of student loans and other obligations, the contrast between Rob Menendez is clear,” Antunes responded.
“Menendez is a multimillionaire whose seat in Congress was handed to him by his father. Voters can see the difference between someone just going through the motions of running for office and someone who truly wants to represent their community well.”
Today, Ali said in a statement that the financial disclosure form speaks for itself and that he’s worked multiple jobs to keep a roof over his head, like many 8th District constituents.
Back in February, Ali told The Jersey City Times that he relocated from the 10th Congressional District to the 8th District to live in the same building as his sick grandmother, who needs additional care.
Continuing to return fire on Thursday, the former Jersey City Board of Education president also pointed out that Menendez has received $660,000 from the Think Big super PAC.
Another pro-artificial intelligence (AI) super PAC, Protect Progress, has been sending mailers on Menendez’s behalf, which the challenger points out comes after Menendez told the New Jersey Globe in March that he wouldn’t need outside money to beat him handily.
“He isn’t being honest with the voters of the district. Why doesn’t he denounce these groups that are not clearly aligned with voters? We held a town hall two weeks ago, and residents told us about what AI is doing to their businesses and their environment. That’s the more important issue,” Ali concluded.
