Menendez wants U.S. Senate to extend Rove probe

The story of the day is that U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-Hoboken) wants the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee to extend the scope of Congress' probe of former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove, and that the U.S. Attorney in New Jersey needs to make public the results of their subpoena of his own records during the 2006 campaign.

Menendez, the Chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, says that the House Judiciary Committee's agreement with Rove's attorneys were "limiting in nature."

"I understand that there's an investigation going on by the Justice Department and I believe that investigation needs to be vigorous and I also believe that in light of the information that's come out that maybe the Senate Judiciary Committee should be looking at a continuation of what that information reveals," Menendez told PolitickerNJ.com's Max Pizarro.

Menendez also told Pizarro that he has not any personal discussions with the U.S. Attorney's office regarding the status of his own situation.  In 2006, while he was seeking his first full term in the Senate, he received a subpoena from the U.S. Attorney's office regarding the rental of property he owned to a non-profit organization receiving receiving federal funds.  His GOP opponent, State Sen. Thomas Kean (R-Westfield) ran TV ads alleging that Menendez was "under investigation," but there has been no public activity on that file over the last three years.

"I think its incumbent on the U.S. Attorney's Office to come to come to a conclusion, particularly when it involves a public official, and to let that conclusion be made public," the senator said.