Marlboro GOP chair Kolenovic admits donations were made to influence Menendez
The Marlboro GOP chair admitted to using money to influence global affairs which had already happened.
Marlboro GOP chair Renzo Kolenovic, a key ally of gubernatorial candidate Bill Spadea, has admitted to donating to disgraced former senator Bob Menendez in an effort to advance interests of his homeland.
In a statement on Facebook, Kolenovic stated he hoped to influence Menendez to support Montenegro’s efforts to join NATO and the EU.
“Sen. Bob Menendez at the time was the Chair of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee. I donated to….persuade him to support first [sic], Montenegro’s bid to enter NATO, and later, to enter the European Union.”
There’s a hole in Kolenovic’s story though: the Balkan state joined NATO after approval from the US Senate, where Menendez voted in the affirmative in June of 2017. Kolenovic donated to Menendez in 2021.
Menendez, sentenced to eleven years in prison for bribery, foreign agent, and obstruction of justice offenses, used his Senate influence to protect foreign nationals in New Jersey and benefit Egypt and Qatar, while also obstructing justice in the federal investigation. U.S. Attorney Danielle R. Sassoon noted that Menendez “used his position to help his co-conspirators and a foreign government, in exchange for bribes.”
Marlboro leaders have forcefully condemned Kolenovic’s donations.
“Mr. Kolenovic has engaged in a smear campaign against us, calling us ‘RINOs,’ while the whole time has been remiss to mention that he has been undermining his own party with financial contributions to Democrats, among them Bob Menendez,” said Marlboro Township Council President Michael Milman.
Milman, along with fellow Council members Antoinette DiNuzzo and Juned Qazi are demanding Kolenovic’s immediate resignation as Marlboro GOP chair.
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