WASHINGTON -- The pressure is building on New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez.
For the second time in less than two weeks he is on the front page of The New York Times, and not in a good way. The Times has another story today about efforts from Menendez’s office to help the senator’s friend and donor Salomon Melgen.
This comes after a Times editorial on Saturday called for Menendez to be stripped of his position as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
It has now been nearly two weeks since the Jan. 30 FBI raid on Melgen’s South Florida offices that first raised questions about the ties between the Democratic senator and big-spending donor, and stories about the two keep coming. On Sunday the ethics allegations were fodder for some of the biggest morning political talk shows.
So far, fellow Democrats are standing with Menendez, a key to his political survival. But the drip-drip-drip of news reports threatens to erode support. When I spoke with political insiders after the Menendez story first broke into widespread circulation, members of both parties said he would survive if the only issue was the two unpaid-for trips to the Dominican that Melgen provided Menendez in 2010.
But they all questioned what else might come out, and if it would appear to be something more sinister than an accounting oversight -- as Menendez has characterized his two-year delay in repaying Melgen $58,500 for the two roundtrip flights on the doctor’s private plane.
The Times has now written twice about Menendez’s effort to help Melgen, an eye doctor who also had a stake in a security company with a contract to screen cargo at Dominican ports. Menendez twice personally prodded federal officials to push Dominican leaders to enforce the contract, potentially worth $500 million, according to the Times, as it was held up in a dispute.
The Times today reported that a Menendez aide also e-mailed U.S. customs about the issue. The aide sought to discourage the U.S. from donating port security equipment to the Dominican, the Times wrote, saying the office was concerned that the equipment might be less effective than the private contractor. The e-mails do not mention Melgen’s company by name.
Menendez’s efforts on this issue have the potential to be especially damaging given that they directly touch on his foreign affairs chairmanship, though he has insisted that he has done nothing wrong.
“Nobody has bought me, No. 1. Nobody. Never,” Menendez told Univision last week.
For the second time in less than two weeks he is on the front page of The New York Times, and not in a good way. The Times has another story today about efforts from Menendez’s office to help the senator’s friend and donor Salomon Melgen.
This comes after a Times editorial on Saturday called for Menendez to be stripped of his position as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
It has now been nearly two weeks since the Jan. 30 FBI raid on Melgen’s South Florida offices that first raised questions about the ties between the Democratic senator and big-spending donor, and stories about the two keep coming. On Sunday the ethics allegations were fodder for some of the biggest morning political talk shows.
So far, fellow Democrats are standing with Menendez, a key to his political survival. But the drip-drip-drip of news reports threatens to erode support. When I spoke with political insiders after the Menendez story first broke into widespread circulation, members of both parties said he would survive if the only issue was the two unpaid-for trips to the Dominican that Melgen provided Menendez in 2010.
But they all questioned what else might come out, and if it would appear to be something more sinister than an accounting oversight -- as Menendez has characterized his two-year delay in repaying Melgen $58,500 for the two roundtrip flights on the doctor’s private plane.
The Times has now written twice about Menendez’s effort to help Melgen, an eye doctor who also had a stake in a security company with a contract to screen cargo at Dominican ports. Menendez twice personally prodded federal officials to push Dominican leaders to enforce the contract, potentially worth $500 million, according to the Times, as it was held up in a dispute.
The Times today reported that a Menendez aide also e-mailed U.S. customs about the issue. The aide sought to discourage the U.S. from donating port security equipment to the Dominican, the Times wrote, saying the office was concerned that the equipment might be less effective than the private contractor. The e-mails do not mention Melgen’s company by name.
Menendez’s efforts on this issue have the potential to be especially damaging given that they directly touch on his foreign affairs chairmanship, though he has insisted that he has done nothing wrong.
“Nobody has bought me, No. 1. Nobody. Never,” Menendez told Univision last week.