N.J. senator may face charges tied to campaign contributor

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department is likely to file criminal charges against Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., for allegedly using his office to help a contributor, according to two sources familiar with the case.

Menendez has been the subject of an investigation for two years centering on his relationship with Dr. Salomon Melgen, a South Florida ophthalmologist.

Menendez acknowledged in 2013 that he flew on Melgen’s jet without reporting the flights as gifts on a financial disclosure form, calling it an “oversight.” After media reports and ethics complaints, Menendez wrote Melgen a check for $58,500 to cover the cost of the flights.

Now the investigation is coming to a close, according to a source with knowledge of the case, who didn’t not want to be identified speaking about the matter before it was announced. A Justice Department spokesman declined to confirm that, however, saying no charges were likely “in the near future.”

“Let me be very clear – very clear – that I have always conducted myself appropriately and in accordance with the law,” Menendez said at a news conference in Newark, New Jersey, on Friday.

He said he and Melgen had been friends for more than two decades and have exchanged gifts at holidays. “Anyone who knows me knows I fight for the things I believe are important,” he said. “That’s who I am, and I am not going anywhere.”

He read his statement in English and Spanish and then left without taking questions, saying he couldn’t say more because of the pending investigation.

The possible charges were first reported Friday by CNN.

A law enforcement official confirmed that criminal charges were expected, but said no action was imminent because prosecutors have been hamstrung by attempts to compel members of the Menendez staff to discuss a series of phone calls the senator allegedly exchanged with federal Medicare and Medicaid officials on behalf of Melgen. At that time in 2012, the doctor was locked in a dispute with government officials who alleged he was overbilling Medicare and Medicaid.

Melgen, one of the nation’s top-billing ophthalmologists, was paid $21 million from Medicare and Medicaid in 2012, more than any other doctor in the country. He eventually became the subject of a fraud investigation, with the FBI raiding his medical offices in 2013. He has not been charged in that investigation.

The official added that the senator also allegedly met with Kathleen Sebelius, then secretary of the Health and Human Services Department, and Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., then the Senate majority leader, on Melgen’s behalf.

The phone calls and the meetings were mentioned, inadvertently, in a sealed court filing in New Jersey. Before they were taken down, copies were made by the New Jersey Law Journal, which then reported on the documents.