NJ senator calls prostitution allegations 'smears'
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Robert Menendez said Monday that allegations that he engaged with prostitutes in the Dominican Republic are false "smears." He said he has done nothing wrong and that allegations otherwise are "totally unsubstantiated."
"It's amazing to me that anonymous, nameless, faceless individuals on a website can drive that type of story into the mainstream," Menendez, D-N.J., told reporters, his voice rising with anger. "But that's what they've done successfully. Now nobody can find them, no one ever met them, no one can talk to them, but that's where we're at."
"The bottom line is all of those smears are absolutely false," he added in his first public remarks since the allegations started spreading on Wednesday.
That was after the FBI conducted a search of the West Palm Beach offices of a Florida ophthalmologist who also was the senator's biggest political donor in his re-election campaign last year. A week before the November election, the Daily Caller, a conservative website, reporter that Menendez had used a business jet owned by Dr. Salomon Melgen to fly to the Dominican Republican for trysts with prostitutes. None of the allegations have been substantiated.
The events have engulfed Menendez, 59, just as he assumed the chairmanship of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, succeeding former Sen. John Kerry, who resigned last week to become secretary of state. The Senate Ethics Committee is investigating the case.
Separately, a prominent lawyer in the Dominican Republic on Monday denied hosting outings on his yacht involving Menendez and prostitutes. Attorney Vinicio Castillo Seman said in Santo Domingo that he would seek a criminal investigation into the source of the reports. He called the reports "absurd."
Castillo, the son of a presidential adviser and the brother of a member of the Dominican Republic Congress, said he has known Menendez for about 15 years but has never seen him with a prostitute.
"I have never seen him behave in any way that was not impeccable and dignified," Castillo said.
Menendez acknowledged to reporters that he flew on Melgen's private plane and failed, initially, to properly pay for trips. He told reporters he reimbursed some $58,500 from his personal funds after it "came to my attention."
"I was in a big travel schedule in 2010 as the chairman of the DSCC" — the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee — "plus my own campaign getting ready for the election cycle," Menendez said. "In the process of all of that it unfortunately fell through the cracks and our processes did not catch it."
Menendez's office last week acknowledged that the senator had reimbursed Melgen on Jan. 4. His office said Menendez's reimbursement was for the full cost of two flights on Melgen's plane to the Dominican Republic in 2010.
Menendez took a third flight — in May 2010 — on Melgen's plane for a DSCC fundraiser. The trip was reported to the Federal Election Commission as a $5,400 expenditure by the DSCC for the use of Melgen's plane.
It is unclear whether the FBI raid of Melgen's office was related to Menendez. Melgen is a native of the Dominican Republic but has lived in the U.S. since 1980. Menendez is of Cuban-American descent.
Some New Jersey Republicans filed a complaint with the Senate Ethics Committee last fall after the Daily Caller's report that Menendez had flown on Melgen's private plane to the Dominican Republic to engage with prostitutes. In response, Menendez's staffers searched records for trips by the senator and found the two additional trips that hadn't been reimbursed.
Menendez's office has said Melgen has been a friend and political supporter of the senator for many years. Last year, Melgen's practice gave $700,000 to Majority PAC, a super political action committee set up to fund Democratic candidates for Senate. Aided by Melgen's donation, the super PAC became the largest outside political committee contributing to Menendez's re-election, spending more than $582,000 on the senator's behalf, according to an analysis of federal election records.
____
Associated Press writer Ezequiel Abiu Lopez in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, contributed to this report.
"It's amazing to me that anonymous, nameless, faceless individuals on a website can drive that type of story into the mainstream," Menendez, D-N.J., told reporters, his voice rising with anger. "But that's what they've done successfully. Now nobody can find them, no one ever met them, no one can talk to them, but that's where we're at."
"The bottom line is all of those smears are absolutely false," he added in his first public remarks since the allegations started spreading on Wednesday.
That was after the FBI conducted a search of the West Palm Beach offices of a Florida ophthalmologist who also was the senator's biggest political donor in his re-election campaign last year. A week before the November election, the Daily Caller, a conservative website, reporter that Menendez had used a business jet owned by Dr. Salomon Melgen to fly to the Dominican Republican for trysts with prostitutes. None of the allegations have been substantiated.
The events have engulfed Menendez, 59, just as he assumed the chairmanship of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, succeeding former Sen. John Kerry, who resigned last week to become secretary of state. The Senate Ethics Committee is investigating the case.
Separately, a prominent lawyer in the Dominican Republic on Monday denied hosting outings on his yacht involving Menendez and prostitutes. Attorney Vinicio Castillo Seman said in Santo Domingo that he would seek a criminal investigation into the source of the reports. He called the reports "absurd."
Castillo, the son of a presidential adviser and the brother of a member of the Dominican Republic Congress, said he has known Menendez for about 15 years but has never seen him with a prostitute.
"I have never seen him behave in any way that was not impeccable and dignified," Castillo said.
Menendez acknowledged to reporters that he flew on Melgen's private plane and failed, initially, to properly pay for trips. He told reporters he reimbursed some $58,500 from his personal funds after it "came to my attention."
"I was in a big travel schedule in 2010 as the chairman of the DSCC" — the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee — "plus my own campaign getting ready for the election cycle," Menendez said. "In the process of all of that it unfortunately fell through the cracks and our processes did not catch it."
Menendez's office last week acknowledged that the senator had reimbursed Melgen on Jan. 4. His office said Menendez's reimbursement was for the full cost of two flights on Melgen's plane to the Dominican Republic in 2010.
Menendez took a third flight — in May 2010 — on Melgen's plane for a DSCC fundraiser. The trip was reported to the Federal Election Commission as a $5,400 expenditure by the DSCC for the use of Melgen's plane.
It is unclear whether the FBI raid of Melgen's office was related to Menendez. Melgen is a native of the Dominican Republic but has lived in the U.S. since 1980. Menendez is of Cuban-American descent.
Some New Jersey Republicans filed a complaint with the Senate Ethics Committee last fall after the Daily Caller's report that Menendez had flown on Melgen's private plane to the Dominican Republic to engage with prostitutes. In response, Menendez's staffers searched records for trips by the senator and found the two additional trips that hadn't been reimbursed.
Menendez's office has said Melgen has been a friend and political supporter of the senator for many years. Last year, Melgen's practice gave $700,000 to Majority PAC, a super political action committee set up to fund Democratic candidates for Senate. Aided by Melgen's donation, the super PAC became the largest outside political committee contributing to Menendez's re-election, spending more than $582,000 on the senator's behalf, according to an analysis of federal election records.
____
Associated Press writer Ezequiel Abiu Lopez in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, contributed to this report.
A lying crooked politician, there must be some mistake!
"Smears'Â "unsubstantiated"....
And now the woman talks !
The republiCONs are REALLY gonna throw a fit if they find out females are involved !
he should probably get a papsmear
She was only filling in for a prostitute. She was in fact a substitute.
He is an awful Senator. Â His career grade from NumbersUSA is a solid "F-"
https://www.numbersusa.com/content/my/congress/547/reportcard/RECENT/
Â
By contrast, do take a few minutes to find more about the debacle which is brewing around him. Â The AP glosses over the details, but if you delve a bit further, you may find there are still lingering and unanswered questions about the NJ Senator's behavior. Â He really is a doooshbag.
Oh, also.. He was one of the 8 Senators that tried to pass illegal alien Amnesty in 2007 which failed so miserably. Â He is also one of the current 'Gang of Eight' trying again now. Did I say he was a doooshbag?
Just another slime ball politician. Even if he didn't do it, he is still a slime ball politician as are most politicians.
He's head of the "foreign relations committee," he was just doing job research.Â
Come on, we all do it...Just say you had a good time.
All I read was "Senator" and "prostitution" and I already thought him guilty. Here I thought I had a higher opinion of Congress than most. Well I probably do, but slightly above rock bottom isn't much higher.
This is the same clown that hired a convicted child molester that is in the US illegally. He has a history of supporting illegals in the US, perhaps he should try and uphold the law and demand deportation of illegals rather than hiring them as members of his staff.....The illegal was an intern.Â
 @FreerideNOT was his "intern" a beautiful 19 year old Domincan girl, by any chance?Â
When I read the headline, I was sure they found an other Republican they could smear. Surprisingly, the culprit is a Democrat. Taking after Bill, are ya?
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@Rob C 503 My guess, like yours, is that the substantiation will appear soon.
@Mechanic .......seems likely.
The state of Washington should jump on this.  Why not treat prostitution like pot.  Legalize it and tax the heck out of it.  Then the politicians can come to Washington state and spend their money.  Maybe the senators can even get some special interest money for the  state.   Unfortunately  it will turn out the same as pot.   No one will pay taxes on something they can get tax free, even if it is illegal. Â
 @Shadow there's already Nevada
@Shadow I suspect you were not being serious, but you should be. Legalizing prostitution, like legalizing currently illegal drugs, would not only be a source of revenue, but should also result in large cost savings due to the huge enforcement efforts that would no longer be necessary. As a further bonus, legalization should do a lot to eliminate the other crimes that surround prostitution. If some hooker steals a guy's wallet, the guy would be in a position to report the crime without fear of confessing to a crime himself. The health of any woman (or man, for that matter) involved in prostitution could be monitored openly, and there would be no necessity for prostitutes to avoid medical care. Win. Win. And win.
He did something to anger someone because they have dirt saved for each and every politician, they just bust it out when they want them gone!
@portlandborn83 Pease write complete and correct sentences with agreement between the subject and verb. You suggest that he did something (a little vague, that) to anger someone (no clarification here). Then this someONE (singular) suddenly becomes THEY (plural). To whom do you refer? Oh, and "every politician" (again, singular--"all politicians" would be plural) becomes "them" again. Same "them" or a different "them?" There is a thought in there, I suppose, but you fail to express it.
 @Mechanic  @portlandborn83  There is a thought in there, I suppose, but you fail to express it.
And yet you read between the lines..
So is it the punctuation that gets you're boooty itchin??
Or pray tell the truth.??Â