The FBI raid of the Florida office of a major campaign donor of U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) was a major topic on the annual chamber train to Washington, D.C. The Miami Herald yesterday reported that the FBI raided the West Palm Beach office of Dr. Salomon Melgen who provided Menendez free trips to the Dominican Republic and allegedly underage prostitutes. NJ Today Managing Editor Mike Schneider was on board the chamber train and caught up with Sen. Samuel Thompson (R-12) to get his reaction to the controversy swirling around Menendez.
Back in late October/early November, Thompson said he filed an ethics complaint against Menendez for the trips he made to the Dominican Republic.
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“We had documentation showing he took four flights that were paid for by this opthamologist down in Florida and, according to Senate ethics rules, he was required to get advance approvals for these things unless they were official business which they clearly were not,” said Thompson. “It they were personal business, he needed to get advance approval, etc. and so on, and he needed to file a financial disclosure on all these things and so on which he had not done.”
As to the allegations involving underage prostitutes, Thompson said that while he had reports of other things that had transpired during Menendez’s stays in the Dominican Republic, he only had documentation related to the flights. Thompson would not release the names of the individuals providing him the information, but said “there were some people who did research and discussed it with me and and I did feel that this was something that should be brought forth to the Senate Ethics Committee.”
Thompson said Menendez has yet to respond to his complaint. But he noted that today, a Menendez spokesman is stating that Menendez paid for the flights on Jan. 4, more than two years after the trips took place..
While he wouldn’t comment on the allegations related to underage prostitution, he said “the very fact that the FBI has gone down and conducted this raid on the doctor’s office in Florida should suggest that they had gained additional information that seemed had some credence to other allegations that were made.”
So what’s his advice for Menendez? “I think the senator should set just the record straight on what the facts are,” said Thompson. “All I know about what’s happening right now is what I read in the press and the media.”