Democrat Senator Accused of Paying Women for Sex in the Dominican Republic

Democrat Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey finds himself at the center of a scandal today, less than a week before the Nov. 6 elections. According to two women in the Dominican Republic who spoke with the Daily Caller, Menendez agreed to pay them each $500 for sex, before paying only 20% of what he had agreed to pay them. They say that the incident occurred earlier this year.

In interviews, the two women said they met Menendez around Easter at Casa de Campo, an expensive 7,000 acre resort in the Dominican Republic. They claimed Menendez agreed to pay them $500 for sex acts, but in the end they each received only $100.

The women spoke through a translator in the company of their attorney, Melanio Figueroa. Both asked that their identities remain obscured for fear of reprisals in the Dominican Republic.

When shown a photograph of Sen. Menendez, the women said they recognized him as the man with whom they’d had sexual relations at Casa de Campo this spring. Both said they were brought to the resort with the understanding they would be paid for sex.

Neither knew the identity of the man at the time. Both claimed to recognize him later as Sen. Menendez.

“He called him[self] ‘Bob,’” said one.

The DC reports that Menendez does travel frequently to the Dominican Republic, and to the location that the women singled out.

On at least one occasion, according to a news account, Menendez has been a guest at the Casa de Campo home of a friend and campaign donor named Salomon Melgen, an ophthalmologist and owner of an eye clinic in Florida.

Melgen has donated $14,700 to Menendez’s campaigns since 1993, with the bulk of it coming since he became a U.S. Senator, according to Federal Election Commission data collected by the Center for Responsive Politics.

Melgen also appears to have lent Menendez the use of his plane on several occasions.