The following is an open letter to Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing & Urban Affairs and chairman of that panel's Housing, Transportation and Community Development Subcommittee. This letter, which was sent July 30 via e-mail to the senator, was written in the context of the HSBC banking scandal -- and in the context of the fact Menendez and other committee members with oversight of the banking industry have benefited enormously from the "generosity" of HSBC and other financial institutions under their jurisdiction.
In light of the HSBC money laundering scandal -- and
considering that you have received thousands of dollars from the bank's PAC --
I urge you to wash your hands clean of those funds.
In order to maintain your
integrity, I believe it is necessary to relinquish those funds -- campaign cash
indirectly paid for by murderous Mexican drug cartels and international
terrorist affiliates. Now that a Senate special investigation says that HSBC
allowed such groups to move billions through HSBC banks, I believe it is time
you take a stand on the matter, particularly since you serve in a leadership
position on the Senate Banking Committee. Donating the equivalent of the HSBC
PAC funds you have received -- and donating them to a charity, for example,
that will stem the impact of what the drug lords have wreaked upon our nation
-- would be a good step toward cleaning HSBC's blood off your hands. I look
forward to your reply.
