Posted on 01/31/2013 5:54:38 PM PST by jazusamo
Ever since the allegations first made in November that Dominican-born eye doctor Salomon Melgen provided prostitutes for Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ), a favor that appeared to be gravy on top of his large campaign contributions, the obvious question for us has been, "What has Menendez done for Melgen?"
We believe that we have answer. After an extensive review of publicly available documents that link the two men, the answer relates to unusual actions on behalf of a port security company known as ICSSI.
Ray Hernandez and Frances Robles detail in a New York Times story how Menendez sought to help ICSSI "in ways that could bring the doctor a highly lucrative windfall." From the article:
Two years ago, Dr. Melgen, despite an apparent lack of experience in border security issues, bought an ownership interest in a company that had a long-dormant contract with the Dominican Republic to provide port security. Mr. Menendez, who is chairman of the Senate subcommittee that holds sway over the Dominican Republic, subsequently urged officials in the State and Commerce Departments to intervene so the contract would be enforced, at an estimated value of $500 million.
Menendez even convened a special hearing on the matter. Although he was the only Senator present, it had the full force of a Senate hearing. He dragged administration officials up to the Hill for questioning about why the deal had not gone through. The New York Times quotes Menendez :
"You have another company that has American investors that is seeking to - has a contract actually given to it by the - kind of ratified by the Dominican Congress to do X-ray of all of the cargo that goes through the ports, which have been problematic and for which in the past narcotics have been included in those cargo," the senator said at the hearing, according to a transcript provided by the National Legal and Policy Center, a government watchdog group.
Also from the article:
...Ken Boehm, the chairman of the government watchdog group, called the actions troubling.
"At a minimum, the public is entitled to know more about this relationship," Mr. Boehm said. "It's a matter of transparency and accountability."
The New York Times article was posted online this evening and will likely be published in tomorrow's print edition. As interesting as some of the details of the previous allegations have been, the real scandal is the appearance that a U.S. Senator tried to help a donor make a lot of money at the same time the donor was pouring hundreds of thousand into the campaigns of Menendez and his allies. The New York Times provides a good overview of the situation but there are several aspects of the Menendez-Melgen relationship that deserve much more scrutiny.
NY Times article live link in last paragraph of this article.
That’s possibly some serious cheese. It’s of course racist and bigoted serious cheese, but serious cheese nonetheless.
This is going to either be squashed in the next 72 hours or we’re looking at a major major once in a generation national scandal...
The Fanjul brothers own the resort where this occurred. They have entertained dozens and dozens of Senators and Congressmen at this resort.
We’re looking at a long term blackmailing of the nation’s leadership through hidden underage prostitution videotaping at Casa de Campo. Or not, but there are large paper trails on who has been to Casa de Campo in the last 20 years the Fanjuls have owned the resort.
http://eyeonmiami.blogspot.com/2013/01/miami-herald-senator-bob-menendez-and.html
Good catch. This could be it, follow the money.
Soon Menendez may discover that he has a pressing need to spend more time with his family. HA!
Bttt
EVERY major politician in DR takes holidays at Casa de Campo, or put another way, you aren’t somebody until you are accepted to holiday at Casa De Campo amongst the DR’s pathologically corrupt elites. President Fernandez holds court there at least twice a year.
Thanks for the link. I’m hoping for the major major national scandal, many of the politicians in Washington DC have become so accustomed to corruption it’s now a way of life.
If this keeps up, he will discover he has a pressing need to nap with fish. Someone is going to “Ron Brown” him to keep him quiet.
Follow the money is right!
Let’s hope Menendez gets to spend more time with his family when they visit him in a federal slammer. LOL!
I’m confused. Which country is acting like a third-world banana republic in this story - the Dominican Republic or the United States of America?
Have you been to Illinois?
If this keeps up, he will discover he has a pressing need to nap with fish. Someone is going to “Ron Brown” him to keep him quiet.
Of course, because Menendez is but one of many who enrich themselves at the public trough. That is why these Congressional/Senate committee chairmanships are so “valuable”.
And the Fanjul Brothers own thousands of acres of Sugar Cane the U.S. government pays them to process, pile up and rot. They’ve long been under scrutiny for child labor violations. If there’s any type of real investigation done, this could all get interesting.
Can we get our cheaper, imported sugar back now, ban HFCS, and save billions in medical costs from lower diabetes rates?
It would be nice if those crooks went down with Menendez, but I'm not so hopeful...
Emails show FBI investigating Sen. Bob Menendez for sleeping with underage Dominican prostitutes
It’s on Facebook already.
This looks less like underage prostitution and more like child sex slavery. This is vile and nasty business, and Menendez is right in the middle of it.
Menendez seems like a real scumbag. It would NOT surprise me if he's involved with 12 year old girls.
Let the dems defend that.
This may have been going on much longer than we know. My guess is Mendenez more or less put him self in a “honey trap” by liking to play with the fresh young things. The good doctor saw a good thing happening and squeezed the Senator for as long as he could until Menendez screwed the wrong girl!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.