Senator Menendez Sweating Bullets
Alvaro F. Fernandez (Progreso Weekly)
HAVANA TIMES — The truth is out there. The facts are slowly being unveiled. Sooner or later, I suppose, they will reveal the real story. From what I’ve seen and read, they don’t bode well for U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez.
By now most of us know the story line. Recently I wrote “about a West Palm Beach doctor and his ties to New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez.” It seems that the New Jersey senator and son of Cuban parents “has an affinity for prostitutes.”
I continued that if you are to believe everything that has been written lately in major newspapers and internet sites, Sen. Menendez’ “courtesans are underage and from the Dominican Republic, where his buddy and big-time campaign contributor Dr. Salomon Melgen is from. Apparently Menendez has travelled in Melgen’s private jet to the Caribbean destination.”
Menendez’s buddy, Dr. Melgen, I said, is definitely being investigated by the FBI. He owes the I.R.S. more than $11 million in back taxes. And there may be problems with Medicare and Medicaid.
But the question being raised is whether Sen. Menendez is part of the investigation?
That’s sketchy, but he seems to be.
Recently the Associated Press reported that the good Sen. Bob “reimbursed a prominent Florida political donor $58,500 on Jan. 4 of this year for the full cost of two of three trips Menendez took on the donor’s plane to the Dominican Republic in 2010.” The donor, of course, is Dr. Melgen, the senator’s buddy who is being investigated. As for Menendez returning the money: why now? Almost three years later…
And as newspapers keep digging, smelling that blood in the water that is a powerful politician gone bad, all I can imagine is that poor Bob must not be sleeping well at night. The reasons are adding up:
It was first reported that Menendez’ Dominican Republic trysts were being subsidized by the good (or is it bad?) doctor – a long-time friend of the senator, as Menendez himself has admitted.
If we are to believe of Menendez’s dallying with girl prostitutes, and if that is proven true, then I must add that it is against U.S. law (no matter the place where you may have had the “affair”) to have sex with a minor. There have been reports that at least one of the “ladies” was 16-years-old.
Recently the Associated Press reported that the good Sen. Bob “reimbursed a prominent Florida political donor $58,500 on Jan. 4 of this year for the full cost of two of three trips Menendez took on the donor’s plane to the Dominican Republic in 2010.” The donor, of course, is Dr. Melgen, the senator’s buddy who is being investigated. As for Menendez returning the money: why now? Almost three years later…
And just this morning The Miami Herald is reporting that “Sen. Bob Menendez used his influence to advocate for a Dominican Republic business deal that helped a longtime friend and donor whose South Florida office was raided by federal agents this week.”
Herald reporters went on to add: “One company Menendez was apparently referring to: ICSSI, acquired the year before by Dr. Salomon Melgen, a Palm Beach County eye doctor and friend. The firm was seeking to enforce a contract it had won to X-ray Dominican Republic port cargo, that could be worth $500 million to $1 billion over two decades.”
Like I said at the beginning, the whole truth is still out there. Whatever it may be I assure you that Sen. Bob Menendez is sweating bullets today.
If you have a 11 million dollar debt to the IRS and are being investigated about pedophilia, do the usual: blame Fidel!
Avoiding the legal morass that would envelope him if it is proven that he was with underage girls is doable. The resort he stayed at stipulates all of its ‘hostesses’ are over 18. He will say he relied on the resort ‘s policy and had no way to verify ages. Prostitution is not illegal in the Dominican Republic so he otherwise broke no law. Ethically speaking, he faces a horse of a different color. His only ‘legal’ exposure is not having reported the flights as gifts in a timely fashion. Although it took him two years to repay his buddy for the private jet trips, he did ultimately do it. All said, he really is just facing a very embarassing scandal. He will not lose his Senate seat and quite possibly could retain his Foreign Relations Chairmanship. If Cuba proves to have been involved in any way, forget about any possible positive change in US Cuba relations.
I have read reports from defenders of Sen. Menendez that the Cuban government is behind the accusations against staunchly anti-Castro politicians.
While that is possible, it’s not the most likely explanation. Consider the 4 possible scenarios:
a) Sen. Menendez did not have sex with underage prostitutes, & the Cuban gov’t is trying to smear him
b) Sen. Menendez did not have sex with underage prostitutes, & the Cuban gov’t is not involved.
c) Sen. Menendez did have sex with underage prostitutes, & the Cuban gov’t is not involved.
d) Sen. Menendez did have sex with underage prostitutes, & the Cuban gov’t is involved.
Menendez is claiming scenario b). The facts of that can be checked out, as it is known he did travel to DR with his wealthy supporter, where he attended parties. People saw him, and people will talk. The prostitute who has identified him can be questioned carefully. He has his work cut out defending against the charge.
The accusation that the Cuban gov’t is behind it is harder to make, and not merely that it’s difficult to prove an operation by a skilled intelligence agency like Cuba’s.
The tougher thing is the accusation makes no sense. If Cuba set up Menendez, or if they merely found out about his peccadillo for young girls, it would be much more likely that the Cuban gov’t would blackmail Menendez into dropping his hardline positions against Cuba. It would serve their interests to do that. It does not serve their interests nearly so much to spill the beans and take down Menendez.
Therefore, the most likely scenario is c), and he’s is indeed sweating bullets.