Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., arrives to the courthouse with his children in Newark, N.J., on Sept. 6, 2017 as the corruption trial begins. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Prosecutors said the hooker allegations against Sen. Bob Menendez 'were not so easily disprovable as the defendants suggest.'
Sen. Robert Menendez may have had sex with underage
hookers in Dominican Republic: prosecutors
By Dan Friedman
WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors said Monday that they
aren’t convinced claims U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez cavorted with underage hookers –
widely seen as discredited – are false.
Lawyers for the New Jersey Democrat last week asked a
federal judge to dismiss charges that the senator took bribes from a Florida
eye doctor, Salomon Melgen, and in exchange used his power to do business and
personal favors for him.
Prosecutors said the hooker allegations against Sen. Bob
Menendez 'were not so easily disprovable as the defendants suggest.'
The defense said the case is bogus because it sprang from
"easily disprovable" claims that Menendez slept with underage
prostitutes while hosted by Melgen at a Dominican Republic villa.
Three women who made the prostitution allegations later
recanted and said they were paid to level the charges. Neither Melgen nor
Menendez was charged with soliciting underage prostitutes.
But in a motion Monday asking the judge to ignore the
defense arguments, Justice Department lawyers say the
hooker allegations "were not so easily disprovable as the defendants
suggest."
Prosecutors used the defense claims to highlight
previously undisclosed tidbits on Menendez's pursuit of younger woman.
The lawyers say their investigation resulted from
"specific, corroborated allegations that defendants Menendez and Melgen had
sex with underage prostitutes in the Dominican Republic."
Menendez’s camp said Monday that the Justice Department
filing is a smear tactic designed to use the exchange of motions to dump dirt on
the senator.
“The filing today shows that the Department of Justice
tried to make up for weak allegations about public corruption by soliciting
allegations about sex,” said Menendez spokesman Steven Sandberg. “They continue
that refrain now with new salacious allegations, again having nothing to do
with the actual charges in the case.”
“There is not one interview, paper, email or grand jury
witness—not a shred of any evidence—that says Senator Menendez was involved in
any prostitution, let alone underage women,” Sandberg said. “Period. And the
government knows it.”
The filing discloses circumstantial information indirectly
linking Menendez to prostitutes. The prosecutors noted eyewitness testimony
that Melgen, 61, attended a party that included prostitutes, and that he knew
"numerous young women" to the Dominican Republic on his private jet.
"Many of these young women receive substantial
financial support from defendant Melgen," prosecutors say.
Melgen flew two strippers he met at a South Florida
"Gentleman's Club" to his villa after paying them a combined $3,000,
the government says.
A pilot described a series of "young girls" who
"look like escorts" on Melgen's plane, prosecutors wrote.
"Some of the young women who received substantial
sums of money from defendant Melgen were in the same place as defendant
Menendez at the same times," the government notes.
Prosecutors say that when the allegations about hookers
surfaced, Menendez lied, making the "demonstrably false" claim that
he'd only flown on Melgen's plane three times.
Menendez's defense complained that prosecutors
"flooded the grand jury proceedings with inflammatory questions regarding
sexual relationships, affairs, lavish gifts which are unrelated" to the
charges he faces.
But prosecutors said they "did not interview or
subpoena all of" Melgen or Menendez's girlfriends.
They called only those who were involved in the corrupt
exchange where Menendez used his power to help "Melgen bring his foreign
girlfriends into the United States," while Melgen used his wealth to help
"Menendez take his American girlfriends on exotic overseas vacations."
To Menendez's claim that they went out of their way to
imply he had an improper relationship with a female staffer, prosecutors noted
the aide stayed with Menendez at Melgen's villa twice, and knew there with the
senator on Melgen's jet. Those are flights "Menendez did not pay for or
report, and continued to conceal after the allegations surfaced,"
prosecutors said.
_______________
Menendez corruption and
bribery trial: What to know
Jurors in Sen. Bob Menendez's corruption and bribery case told the judge
Monday that they "can't reach a unanimous verdict on any of the
charges."
The judge sent the jury home for the day and told them to return on
Tuesday to continue deliberations. The decision came after the judge had to
speak with individual jurors about comments a dismissed juror made to the media
over the weekend.
The New Jersey Democrat is accused of accepting a plethora of donations
and gifts from a wealthy friend in exchange for political influence. Both
Menendez and the doctor, Salomon Melgen, have maintained their innocence.
It’s the first time in nine years that a sitting U.S. senator is facing a
federal bribery charge.
What is Menendez accused of?
Menendez, 63, accepted an abundance of campaign donations, gifts and
vacations from Salomon Melgen, a Florida ophthalmologist. In return, Menendez
used his position to lobby on behalf of Melgen’s business interests, according
to prosecutors.
Melgen allegedly directed more than $750,000 in campaign contributions to
entities that supported Menendez, according to the indictment, which
prosecutors said were inducements to get Menendez to use his influence on
Melgen's behalf. Prosecutors have also accused Menendez of trying to hide
the gifts.
Melgen paid for Menendez and his girlfriend to stay for three nights at a
Parisian hotel where rooms typically cost about $1,500 per night and allowed
the senator the use of his private jet, according to prosecutors.
Federal prosecutors said
that Menendez “sold his office for a lifestyle that he couldn’t afford.”
The indictment also
alleged that Menendez pressured State Department officials to give visas to
three young women described as Melgen's girlfriends.
What is the senator’s defense?
Both Menendez and Melgen
have pleaded not guilty – and Menendez has vehemently denied the accusations
against him.
Throughout the trial,
defense attorneys sought to prove that Menendez and Melgen have been friends
since before the former became a senator, and the trips were nothing more than
friends traveling together.
At times emotional,
Menendez has maintained his innocence throughout the trial.
What has happened in the trial so far?
Defense attorney Raymond
Brown got into a spat with U.S. District Court Judge William H. Walls at the
start of the trial. Brown accused Walls of being “extremely prejudicial to the
defense.”
Walls had denied
Menendez’s request that the trial be recessed during critical Senate votes,
stating that his job should not be treated differently from that of a
construction worker or cab driver.
The trial has also
focused on a meeting former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., set up
with Menendez and former Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius
to discuss a nearly $9 million Medicaid billing dispute.
Sebelius testified in
court that the incident was the first time in her role in government that she
was asked by a senator to take a meeting with another senator. She said that
Melgen wasn’t specifically mentioned in the meeting but that she assumed his
case was the topic.
Prosecutors didn’t call
Reid to testify before it rested its case on Oct. 11.
Walls declined to throw
the case out despite the defense’s objections that the accusations against
Menendez didn’t fit the narrow definition of bribery that was a result of a
2016 Supreme Court decision.
Menendez also had a
little help from his friends.
Sen. Lindsey Graham,
R-S.C., arrived at the Newark courthouse to testify as a “character witness”
for the Democratic senator, Graham’s office confirmed. He testified about his
experiences with Menendez in the Senate, “unrelated to the underlying charges,”
his office said.
"In very difficult
circumstances he always keeps his word," Graham, said during his
testimony. "A handshake is all you need from Bob. He's a very honest,
hardworking senator."
Sen. Corey Booker,
D-N.J., has also appeared in support of Menendez.
Menendez was also
emotional when he was asked by reporters about his colleagues’ support.
Melgen, 63, was
convicted of 67 counts of health care fraud in April in what the Palm Beach Post called one of the biggest
Medicare fraud cases in the U.S.
During that case, prosecutors
argued that Melgen, who was born in the Dominican Republic, robbed Medicare of
as much as $105 million, according to the newspaper. His sentencing has been
delayed until after this trial.
Florida ophthalmologist Salomon Melgen is accused of
giving Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., gifts in exchange for help with his personal
and financial dealings. (Reuters/Eduardo Munoz)
Aside from Menendez,
Melgen has given significant amounts of money to a variety of Democratic
lawmakers, according to public records.
What happens if Menendez is convicted?
If Menendez is convicted
and goes to prison, Gov. Chris Christie, R-N.J., would pick a replacement.
That prospect is
troublesome for Democrats who fear that Christie would pick a Republican to
fill the Senate seat – giving the GOP an additional edge for legislative
fights.
Vice President Mike
Pence has said that it would be "altogether inappropriate and wrong"
for a convicted felon to remain in the Senate. However, he said it would be a
decision left up to the Senate if Menendez didn't resign.
Menendez is up for
reelection next year. He was selected to replace former Gov. Jon Corzine, D-N.J.,
in the Senate in 2005.
The most serious charges
against the two men carry a maximum 20-year prison sentence.
Fox News’ Tara
Prindiville and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
