New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez and a married New Jersey woman named Cecelia Reynolds traveled to Puerto Rico in 2007, where they were guests at the Governor’s beach house, owned by the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
Photographic evidence appears to place them both at the beach house, and on the nearby beach, which is private and closed to the public.
It is not known how they traveled to Puerto Rico. In January, Menendez said he reimbursed $58,500 to Salomon Melgen, his largest political donor, for two private jet trips to the Caribbean, a substantial portion of his net worth. At the time Menendez said that there were no other trips.
As reported in the New York Post today:
The trip came at a time when the senator was trying to thwart the appointment of Rosa Emilia Rodriguez-Velez as the US attorney for Puerto Rico. He placed a “senatorial hold,” or block, on the appointment, according to the Newark Star-Ledger.
Rodriguez-Velez was the interim US attorney, and her office had turned its sights on Menendez’s pal, the former Puerto Rico governor, investigating him for alleged campaign-finance violations and other wrongdoing.
Also from the Post:
“Menendez apparently sees no ethics problem with taking his married girlfriend to the Puerto Rican governor’s beach house while the governor was under federal investigation, and published reports describe Menendez as putting a senatorial hold on the nomination of the US attorney who was to oversee the investigation,” said Ken Boehm, chairman of the National Legal and Policy Center. “Is there any wonder the public has such a low opinion of elected officials?”
Related:
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