Thread: ABC, FBI, Menendez camp tight-lipped about senator’s brewing underage prostitution sc

ABC, FBI, Menendez camp tight-lipped about senator’s brewing underage prostitution scandal

Daily Caller
01/28/2013
David Martosko
Executive Editor

Days after documents surfaced that suggested New Jersey Democratic Senator Bob Menendez paid for sexual favors in the Dominican Republic — including some from girls as young as 16 — few in Washington are offering new clues about what appears to be an ongoing federal investigation.

The documents included emails between FBI Special Agent Regino Chavez and a Dominican source. In one email, Chavez told the source that “we have been able to confirm most of” the information he had provided about Menendez and the prostitutes. “We know that you are providing accurate information.”

(RELATED: Emails show FBI investigating Menendez for sleeping with underage Dominican prostitutes)

But the FBI had no comment for Fox News on Saturday.

Read more: ABC, FBI, Menendez camp tight-lipped about sex scandal | The Daily Caller


ABC, FBI, Menendez camp tight-lipped about sex scandal | The Daily Caller

Menendez back Alley Stinky Finger ~ Smells like Teen Spirit

FBI Agents Raid Office of Doctor Linked to Menendez

Menendez (AP)

BY: Washington Free Beacon Staff

January 30, 2013 10:10 am

Federal agents raided late Tuesday the office of a South Florida eye doctor linked to Sen. Robert Menendez (D., N.J.), the Miami Herald reports:

FBI agents late Tuesday night raided the West Palm Beach business of an eye doctor suspected of providing free trips and even underage Dominican Republic prostitutes to U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J. — who has denied what he calls the “fallacious allegations.”

Agents gathered at the medical-office complex of Dr. Salomon Melgen, a contributor to Menendez and other prominent politicians, to start hauling away potential evidence in several vans.

The investigation is believed to be focusing on Melgen’s finances and the allegations about Menendez’s trips and contact with prostitutes. A spokesman for Menendez could not be reached for comment, nor could Melgen.

Melgen is a major Democratic donor, who has donated at least $12,000 to Menendez, including $5,000 to Menendez and $10,000 to the New Jersey Democratic State Committee in the 2012 cycle. Melgen’s eye clinic has also contributed at least $700,000 to Majority PAC, the Harry Reid-affiliated Super PAC dedicated to electing Democrats to the U.S. Senate.

The Middlesex County Republican Organization in November sent a letter to the Senate Ethics Committee asking the committee to investigate whether Menendez took a series of trips on a private jet owned by Melgen without disclosure.

Flight records obtained by the Washington Free Beacon suggest Menendez likely did travel on Melgen’s plane in 2010 and 2011.

Melgen has an outstanding IRS lien of $11.1 million for taxes owed from 2006 to 2009, according the Miami Herald. That lien is not Melgen’s first run-in with the IRS.

Menendez is also facing questions over an intern in his Washington D.C., office who was revealed to be an illegal immigrant and registered sex offender.

According to U.S. officials, the Department of Homeland Security instructed federal agents to delay the intern’s arrest until after the election.

This entry was posted in Democratic Donors and tagged Robert Menendez, Salomon Melgen. Bookmark the permalink.

FBI Agents Raid Office of Doctor Linked to Menendez | Washington Free Beacon

The Bob Menendez Flight Tracker
BY: Andrew Stiles

November 14, 2012 5:00 am

Questions remain as to whether Sen. Bob Menendez (D., N.J.) violated Senate ethics rules by failing to disclose or seek approval for air travel and lodging provided by a wealthy campaign donor.

A New Jersey Republican organization has asked the Senate Ethics Committee to investigate Menendez based on public records and media reports surrounding a series of flights to Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republican between 2010 and 2012.

The request highlights four trips Menendez appears to have made on a corporate jet owned by Salomon Melgen, a Florida ophthalmologist who has donated more than $220,000 to Democratic candidates and committees since 1993. Melgen gave at least $12,600 to Menendez during that period.

Politico reported Monday that Department of Homeland Security flight records “showed that Menendez was not on the Melgen plane for one of those trips, an April flight to the Dominican Republic.”

However, evidence suggests that Menendez likely did travel on Melgen’s plane during trips made in May 2010, September 2010, and March 2011.

Menendez spokeswoman Tricia Enright did not respond to a request seeking confirmation of the senator’s travel schedule on those particular dates. She previously said that she “didn’t know anything about” the Ethics Committee request.

The Transportation Security Administration did not return a request for comment on the availability of additional passenger manifests.

Flight records obtained by the Free Beacon show that Melgen’s plane flew from Atlanta, Ga., to La Romana, Dominican Republic, on the evening of May 14, 2010. That flight occurred several hours after Menendez delivered the keynote address at a Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials reception in Atlanta.

The plane then flew from La Romana to San Juan, Puerto Rico, on May 16, 2010. Records also indicate that the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which Menendez chaired at the time, raised more than $70,000 from Puerto Rican donors on May 17, 2010.

La Romana is the site of Casa de Campo, a luxury resort owned by Melgen. A local website published an account of a dinner honoring Menendez at Melgen’s residence.

The DSCC paid Melgen’s company $5,380 for air travel one week later. Menendez’s campaign and political action committee made more than $3,200 worth of payments to hotels in Puerto Rico around the same time.

Melgen’s plane flew from West Palm Beach, Fla., to Teterboro, N.J., before continuing to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, on Sept. 3, 2010, records show.
Menendez’s official Senate travel records indicate he was unaccounted for between that date and Sept. 6, 2010, when Melgen’s plane returned to the United States.

Records also suggest that Menendez may have traveled on Melgen’s plane on March 26, 2011. The plane flew from West Palm Beach to Puerto Rico on the 26th before flying to Washington, D.C., (via West Palm Beach) on the 29th.

Political donation records suggest that Menendez’s campaign and political action committee held a fundraising event in Puerto Rico on or around March 27, as they reported raising a combined $80,400 from Puerto Rican donors around that time.

Menendez missed a Senate vote on March 28, 2011, to confirm the nomination of U.S. District Court Judge Mae D’Agostino.

Senate rules allow members to accept travel and lodging from private parties for official business-related activity as long as it is approved by the Senate Ethics Committee.

Senators may also accept private “gifts” of travel and lodging. However, they must obtain written approval for all gifts exceeding $250 in value and disclose them on annual financial reports.

Menendez’s disclosure reports between 2010 and 2012 contain no mention of the flights in question or any lodging, indicating that he did not receive committee approval for a personal gift exemption.

“Under any analysis, there is reason to believe that Senator Menendez has accepted a prohibited gift of private air travel,” the GOP ethics complaint states.
If Menendez did receive approval for the gifts but failed to disclose them, it could warrant a criminal charge for making false statements on a federal government filing.

The Senate Code of Official Conduct also requires members to refrain from “improper conduct reflecting on the Senate.”

New Jersey senator continues to be battered by ethics questions | Washington Free Beacon

TAX THE RICH!!!!!!!
Dem Super PAC Donor Owes IRS $11.1 Million

BY: Washington Free Beacon Staff

November 1, 2012 6:18 pm

The Florida ophthalmologist caught in the middle of Sen. Robert Menendez’s prostitute scandal is also one of the largest donors to the Super PAC supporting Senate Democrats.

Salomon Melgen founded the Melgen Vitreo Retinal Eye Center in Florida, formerly known as Vitreo Retinal Consultants Eye Center. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Melgen’s Vitreo Retinal Consultants has contributed at least $700,000 to Majority PAC, a Super PAC dedicated to Democrat candidates for Senate and founded by a former aide to Sen. Harry Reid.

During this cycle, Melgen has also contributed at least $5,000 to Menendez and $10,000 to the New Jersey Democrat State Committee.

Melgen, however, has some serious problems with the Internal Revenue Service. In May 2011, the IRS filed a federal tax lien against Melgen for more than $11.1 million in unpaid taxes dating back to 2006. According to the Palm Beach County Clerk and Comptroller website, the lien has not been released or withdrawn.

It appears that Melgen does not care for paying taxes in a timely manner.

In April 2008, the IRS filed a federal tax lien against Melgen for more than $6.2 million in unpaid taxes dating back to 1998. The lien was withdrawn in August 2011. In July 2002, the IRS filed a federal tax lien against Melgen for nearly $1.3 million in unpaid taxes dating back to 1999. The lien was released in November 2002.

Update (Nov. 2, 11:40 a.m.): A certified public accountant and licensed private investigator representing Salomon Melgen contacted the Washington Free Beacon this morning with the following statement, which we publish here in full:

Please be advised that the article as written concerning the fact pattern regarding the debt to IRS in not accurate, does not provide salient details, portrays a picture that borders on “Defamation of Character” and fails to report on the actual communications, agreements and issues caused and resolved by the IRS, as well as the initial and subsequent errors by the IRS that created the situation that gave rise to the filing of the liens.

José I. Marrero, Partner
MRW Consulting Group LLP

Dem Super PAC Donor Owes IRS $11.1 Million | Washington Free Beacon