Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., leaves a news conference in Newark on Friday after law enforcement officials said the Justice Department is preparing to file criminal corruption charges against him in coming weeks. (John Minchillo/AP)
Friday’s revelations of impending federal corruption charges against Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) are the culmination of more than two years of questions about the senator’s relationship with a key campaign donor.
Nov. 1, 2012: The Daily Caller, a right-leaning Internet news site, alleges that Menendez paid two Dominican women for sex while visiting Casa de Campo — where campaign donor Salomon Melgen, an ophthalmologist, has a home. More stories follow in the subsequent months or days, credited to anonymous sources.
Nov. 6, 2012: Menendez is elected to a second term as senator.
Jan. 29, 2013: The FBI raids Melgen’s Florida home, giving new currency to the Daily Caller reports. On the same day, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) is confirmed as secretary of state; Menendez succeeds him as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Jan. 30, 2013: Menendez tells news outlets he wrote a $58,500 check to reimburse Melgen for two 2010 flights to the Dominican Republic that he did not properly report.
Sen. Robert Menendez said at the news conference Friday that he was "not going anywhere." (Eduardo Munoz/Reuters)
Jan. 31, 2013: Menendez responds to the prostitution claims: “Any allegations of engaging with prostitutes are manufactured by a politically-motivated right-wing blog and are false.” A member of the Senate Ethics Committee confirms a review of the allegations.
Feb. 2, 2013: The Post reports that Menendez had pressured the Dominican government the previous year to carry out a port security contract with a company owned by Melgen.
Feb. 3, 2013: Then-Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) stands by Menendez and says he will continue to lead the Foreign Relations Committee while the investigations play out.
Feb. 7, 2013: The Post reports that Menendez intervened with federal officials on Melgen’s behalf in 2009 over Medicare and Medicaid overbilling allegations.
Feb. 16, 2013: The Post reports that the FBI had spent weeks in the Dominican Republic investigating the prostitution allegations but found little to corroborate the claims.
March 5, 2013: The Post reports that one of the escorts who said Menendez paid her for sex told Dominican authorities that she paid instead to make up the claims to frame the senator and Melgen.The Daily Caller subsequently says the woman who recanted her claims was not one of the two prostitutes the news outlet relied on for its claims against Menendez.
March 15, 2013: The Post reports that a federal grand jury was investigating Menendez’s efforts on behalf of Melgen in a prelude to possible indictment on corruption charges. Says Menendez, “I welcome any review, because I believe, at the end of the day, that my actions have been appropriate.”
March 18, 2013: Dominican police say three women were paid to lie about having sex with Menendez for money, saying they were paid between $300 and $400 by a lawyer who coached them on what to say in recorded interviews.
March 22, 2013: A lawyer in the Dominican Republic admitted to being paid by a person working for the Daily Caller, according to a Dominican law-enforcement official. The Daily Caller denies the claims.
July 8, 2014: The Post reports that Menendez had asked the Justice Department to probe whether the prostitution allegations were a smear concocted by the Cuban government. A former U.S. official confirms to the Post that the CIA has obtained “credible evidence” of such a plot.
March 6, 2014: A U.S. official confirms that the Justice Department is preparing to bring corruption charges against Menendez in connection with his efforts to advocate for Melgen on behalf of federal officials.
Feb. 27, 2015: The New Jersey Law Journal reports on a mistakenly unsealed federal appeals court decision indicating that two Menendez aides had refused to testify to the grand jury investigating the case, citing constitutional protections for legislative acts.
Mike DeBonis covers Congress and national politics for The Washington Post. He previously covered D.C. politics and government from 2007 to 2015.
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