Senator Bob Menendez (EPA)
The FBI late Tuesday night raided the office of a South Florida eye doctor who allegedly was involved in providing young prostitutes to Sen. Bob Menendez — a claim the senator’s office has denied.
Fox News confirms that FBI agents removed items from Dr. Salomon Melgen’s West Palm Beach, Fla., business during a raid that lasted several hours. Agents could be seen rifling through items in the office and carrying boxes out of the building.
It is unclear whether the raid is related to anything involving Menendez. The Miami Herald reports that the investigation is believed to be focusing at least in part on Melgen’s finances. Melgen, a top contributor to Menendez’s federal campaigns, has an outstanding IRS lien of $11.1 million for taxes owed between 2006 and 2009, according to records obtained from the Palm Beach County recorder’s office, the newspaper reported.
But allegations also have surfaced that Menendez, with the help of Melgen, saw prostitutes while in the Dominican Republic. Emails posted online last week appeared to show the FBI communicating with an individual claiming to know about Menendez’s trips. That individual, who goes by the name of Peter Williams, confirmed to FoxNews.com that the email exchange “is totally authentic.”
He provided another purported email exchange from last week with a Miami-based FBI agent. In the exchange, the FBI agent asked to meet Williams “away from the Dominican Republic” to discuss the situation.
Read more at FoxNews.com.