While Politico talks about Sen. Bob Menendez's pushback on the "smears" against him, The Washington Post breaks the news that he went to bat for the South Florida eye doctor whose office was raided by federal agents:
Sen. Robert Menendez raised concerns with top federal health-care officials twice in recent years about their finding that a Florida eye doctor — a close friend and major campaign donor — had overbilled the government by $8.9 million for care at his clinic, Menendez aides said Wednesday.
Menendez (D-N.J.) initially contacted federal officials in 2009 about the government’s audit of Salomon Melgen, complaining to the director overseeing Medicare payments that it was unfair to penalize the doctor because the billing rules were ambiguous, the aides said.....
Menendez, who became chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee this month, is under scrutiny because of his close relationship with Melgen. The doctor donated more than $700,000 last year to Menendez’s reelection campaign and other Senate Democrats. And when Melgen needed help with a port security contract in the Dominican Republic last year, Menendez urged U.S. officials to press the country to carry out the multimillion-dollar agreement.
The Herald has officially become the Bob Menendez Gazette. You people have really got to realize that we're in Miami, Menendez is a popular Senator (from New Jersey), and really... no one cares. Think it's a good story? Great. Research it, write something, release an update every few days. But with this barrage of posts, you'd think you'd caught the president in a bathroom stall with a hooker in DR.
Seriously, do some more relevant reporting. It's getting tiring and annoying, and it's not doing anything to convince people to pay for your stupid new firewall.
Posted by: Rick | February 06, 2013 at 10:31 PM