Posted on 02/02/2013 9:19:24 AM PST by randita
Congressman speculates Cuba may be behind Menendez scandal
By Matt Friedman/The Star-Ledger
on February 01, 2013 at 7:35 PM, updated February 02, 2013 at 2:34 AM
TRENTON — U.S. Rep. Albio Sires today defended Sen. Robert Menendez and presented an unusual theory why the senator finds himself battling lurid accusations.
"I won't even be surprised if somehow the Cuban government is involved in this to try to damage Bob Menendez because he's been so steadfast against the Castro government. He's been a critic all his political life," Sires said in a phone interview. "I would not be surprised if they are behind some of this stuff, some of these allegations. The Dominican Republic has a lot of relationships with Cuba."
Sires, who like Menendez (D-N.J). is Cuban-American, succeeded him in the House when Menendez was elevated to the Senate.
Menendez has denied anonymous allegations that he had trysts with prostitutes, some of them underage, at a Dominican Republic condo owned by wealthy eye doctor and campaign donor Salomon Melgen. But Menendez’s office has said the senator reimbursed Melgen $58,500 for two round trip flights on his private jet on January 4 of this year—more than two years after the trips, and without disclosing them.
In a statement issued after the phone interview, Sires defended Menendez but left out the alleged Cuban connection.
"These attacks on the Senator were first delivered before the Senators re-election this past November. I believe the attacks were an attempt to block the Senator from becoming Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. This is a very powerful post in Washington," he said.
Star-Ledger staff writer Christopher Baxter in Washington contributed to this report.
(Excerpt) Read more at nj.com ...
LOL! No way! Mindy is a ‘fellow traveler’.
Exactly! How do you become an enemy of Cuba by supporting Marxism?
1. His lack of morals, and
2. His genitals
CC
I really doubt it since his politics are to the left of the current Cuban regime. (It’s a good sign that they’re coming up with lame excuses like this since it probably means that there is a huge firestorm behind all the smoke.)
Hello, Menendez has been a dedicated and outspoken critic of the Castro regime even though he is a Dem - he is also a Cuban exile and has a Cuban exile constituency in NJ.
By the way, I commented that this scandal could be an invention of the Cuban govt when it first broke.
I also question your use of the adjective "dedicated", although it is possible he is "outspoken".
“...when Menendez was elevated to the Senate.”
That speaks volumes.
Surprising, what with the way most RATs seem to want to emulate Cuba!
BTW, FL Cubans are Republicans. What's with these lame-ass Cubans from New Jersey? The Democrats love Fidel!
I don’t know what you are talking about. He has been consistently one of the few voices of the Senate raised against the Castro tyranny.
What an ignorant and stupid question. The last name Menendez is one of the 100 most common in the Spanish speaking population. It’s like asking if Scott Brown was related to James Brown.
Actually FL Cubans are leaning more left and Dem. They are getting govt freebies now, too, just like all the other minorities
I also know, that like the Swedes who took care of the problem, the Hispanics are mighty short on surnames and often turn the fact to their advantage.
Well, I have always known that Swaggart and Lewis were related, and it seems possible that Clinton is a Rockefeller bastard.
The Hispanics are short on surnames and that’s why in their countries, they use the mother’s last name after the father’s: Jose Sanchez Gomez, for example.
He has consistently been one of the farthest left of the Senate Democrats. Mao and Brezhnev didn’t get along either. They were both commies, though, and both opponents of the US, just like your hero, Menendez.
He is not my hero. But he is the only Dem who has spoken out against the Castro tyranny.
It’s like a scene from an MST-3000 showing.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.