Sen. Menendez just reimbursed almost $60k to doctor now under investigation by the feds

Remember the story about Sen. Menendez and the two prostitutes in the Dominican Republic? Well the flights he made to the Dominican Republic were courtesy of a Florida eye doctor who is now under investigation by the feds – well, until now. Menendez apparently just reimbursed the doctor almost $60k for the two flights he made down there:

WFB – Sen. Bob Menendez (D., N.J.) disclosed late Wednesday he wrote a $58,500 check this month for trips he took on the private jet of a donor currently under federal investigation for fraud and political corruption.

Menendez is facing increased scrutiny over his relationship with Dr. Salomon Melgen, a South Florida eye doctor and major Democratic donor.

Melgen’s office was raided late Tuesday by federal agents on two separate investigations: one into potential Medicare fraud, and one into corruption allegations about the relationship between Menendez and Melgen, according to the Miami Herald. The latter investigation began last year and was launched after a liberal watchdog group, the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), forwarded a tip to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Justice about the undisclosed trips and the senator’s alleged interactions with underaged prostitutes.

With the $58,500 check, Menendez quietly reimbursed Melgen for two flights he took on the doctor’s plane in 2010, NBC News reported late Wednesday.

The New Jersey Democrat’s relationship with Melgen first came under scrutiny after the Daily Caller published a series of stories on those trips.

As first reported by the Washington Free Beacon, the Middlesex County Republican Organization made an ethics complaint about the trips to the U.S. Senate Ethics Committee in a November letter.

“We can assume the Senate Ethics Committee is looking at the allegation,” Menendez chief of staff Dan O’Brien told NBC Wednesday when asked if the ethics committee had contacted the senator’s office.

When asked about the letter in November, a Menendez spokesman told the Free Beacon, “I don’t know anything about it.”

READ MORE…


Comment Policy: Please read our comment policy before making a comment. In short, please be respectful of others and do not engage in personal attacks. Otherwise we will revoke your comment privileges.