Sweating bullets

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.

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:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. Recently the Associated Press reported that the good Sen. Bob, on January 4 of this year, “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…
4. 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.

Alvaro F. Fernandez