Senator Bob Menendez has done some questionable things, but soliciting underage prostitutes doesn’t seem to be one of them. The Washington Post reports that the FBI has been looking into claims — first reported by the Daily Caller — that the New Jersey Democrat twice flew to the Dominican Republican for a bit of sex tourism along with eye doctor, friend, and major donor Salomon Melgen. (Melgen himself is the subject of an $8.9 million Medicare fraud investigation.) While Menendez’s recent decision to reimburse Melgen $58,500 for the cost of the previously undisclosed trips (the pair flew on Melgen’s private jet) didn’t make things look any less shady, the Post says that investigators have failed to turn up any evidence that Menendez actually attended “prostitution parties” with “young” (or “not legal”) prostitutes, as an “unknown tipster” had suggested. Still, Menendez isn’t exactly off the hook: The FBI is still investigating him for pressuring U.S. officials to enforce a lucrative port security contract in which Melgen had an investment. Some friends are really not worth the trouble.
