By Brenda Flanagan
NJ Today
“They were never anything other than false smears.” That’s New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez saying, basically, “Told you so.”
The New Jersey Democrat commented today on a published report — quoting a Dominican prostitute about sex, lies and videotape. Originally, the prostitute claimed on tape that she did have sex with Menendez. But in a second videotape that surfaced Monday, she apparently took it all back, saying she made it up.
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“Those are my words, that is me, but it does not reflect the truth,” she said. And she claims she was paid to lie about it, according to a report in the Washington Post.
“From the very beginning I said that nameless, faceless, anonymous sources from right wing blogs took the story which were just false smears,” Menendez said.
The conservative news site — The Daily Caller — broke the story only days before the November election, accusing Menendez of partying with prostitutes, amidst other allegations of unreported plane trips and influence-peddling. Menendez won reelection, but a recent Quinnipiac poll shows his popularity has taken a big hit. The senator’s approval rating among New Jersey voters slipped from 51 percent back in January to just 36 percent last month.
In this political soap opera’s latest twist, The Daily Caller says it stands by its story — and claims this prostitute isn’t the same woman that’s in their videotape because their names and ages are different. The Daily Caller accused the Washington Post of false reporting. The Post reporter stood by her story.
“I think that they need to make something big and sexy stick,” said Political Science Professor Brigid Harrison.
And that has not happened yet, according to Harrison. In fact, she says the dueling videotaped statements benefit Menendez.
“I think in many ways he’s been vindicated and I think the reality is that he’s got a good five and a half years before he has to face the voting public again. That’s a very long time to rehabilitate his image,” Harrison said. “In many ways this is a big yawn for New Jersey voters.
Menendez challenged journalists to find out who’s behind all of this. Meanwhile, The Daily Caller adamantly stands by its story.