Feds reportedly plan to charge US senator with corruption THIS WEEK as grand jury reaches decision on government favors going to top Democratic donor

• New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez could be charged in a matter of days 
• Federal grand jury has been probing whether he traded political donations from eye doctor Salomon Melgen for improper government favors
• Menendez spokeswoman said doctor has been 'one of his closest friends for decades' and insists everything he did was lawful
• HHS accused Melgen of overbilling Medicare by $8.9 million and ordered him to pay it back; Menendez intervened about his case
• Senator also paid Melgen back $58,500 for trips on the donor's private jet, calling his failure to reimburse him an 'oversight'
• Allegedly pressured US Customs to stop giving the Dominican Republic used cargo x-ray equipment so a company Melgen controlled would win a contract for new machines
• His aides refused to testify before a federal grand jury about conversations their boss had with HHS officials and a lawyer engaged to lobby for Melgen

By David Martosko, Us Political Editor For Dailymail.com

Published: 13:31 EST, 23 March 2015 | Updated: 13:52 EST, 23 March 2015

Federal prosecutors could file corruption charges against New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez by the end of the week, ending a years-long saga that has had the Democratic politician livign and working under a shadow of criminal suspicion.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee would see charges filed in his native New Jersey, citing people familiar with the FBI's investigation.

The allegations against Menendez involve claims that he used his office to promote the business interests of a Democratic Party donor and close friend in exchange for personal gifts.

Menendez has denied any wrongdoing, vowing that he is 'not going anywhere.' 

But a grand jury probe that has lasted for two years coudl complicate his future. 

THE SENATOR: Sen. Bob Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, may soon face criminal charges related to alleged corruption

POLITICS: (l-r) Menendez, donor Salomon Melgen, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, and her husband Paul, posed in February 2012 at a National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials gala

Menendez, 61, has seen pressure from the Obama administration over his positions on Cuba and Iran, leading some Republicans who share his foreign policy views to suspect that the White House is exacting retribution on him.

But more troubling are the ethics questions lingering about Menendez's relationship with Florida eye doctor Salomon Melgen, a wealthy and prolific donor.

The senator's aides admitted in 2013 that he had intervened a year earlier with the acting chief of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on his friend's behalf, pushing back against accusations of overbilling the Medicare system by $8.9 million.

Menendez has also repaid Melgen $58,500 for the value of plane trips he took on the doctor's private jet, mostly to the posh Dominican Republic resot Casa de Campo.

But his spokeswoman fiercely denied he has done anything illegal even as a conservative group is calling for him to resign and face the music.

Tricia Enright, Menendez's communications director, told Daily Mail Online in a statement earlier this month that 'we believe all of the Senator's actions have been appropriate and lawful and the facts will ultimately confirm that.'

'Any actions taken by Senator Menendez or his office have been to appropriately address public policy issues and not for any other reason.'

'The Senator has counted Dr. Melgen as one of his closest personal friends for decades,' Enright said. 'The two have spent holidays together and have gone to each other’s family funerals and weddings and have exchanged personal gifts.'

COY: Attorney General Eric Holder wouldn't talk on Friday about whether charges are forthcoming for Menendez, saying 'I can't comment'

She called the investigation's beginnings 'suspect,' referring to 'false allegations' that have been 'discredited' in the past. 

Meanwhile, the conservative activist group American Commitment has called on Menendez to resign his office.

On a new website called ByeBob.com, the group claims he 'unethically, and likely criminally, compromised his ability to represent the people of New Jersey.'

CNN reported that the investigation into Menendez is reaching a crescendo, with prosecutors under pressure to complete their work before the statute of limitations runs out on some charges.

Attorney General Eric Holder, according to the network, has already given his approval.

But he insisted 'I can't comment on that' when a reporter asked him about the report Friday afternoon after Obama gave a speech in South Carolina.

Menendez's first high-level meeting at HHS related to Melgen's Medicare troubles occurred on June 7, 2012, according to court documents seen by the New Jersey Law Journal.

The government alleges that the senator and some of his staffers met with Marilyn Tavenner, who was then in charge of the agency's Medicare and Medicaid subagency. 

Court papers also indicate Menendez followup up the meeting with a phone call, and then took Nevada Sen. Harry Reid, who was then the Senate Majority Leader, to an August 2, 2012 meeting with the Department of Health and Human Services's then-secretary, Kathleen Sebelius.

CNN reported that Melgen was one of the Medicare system's most-reimbursed doctors nationwide, during the years when he was also a major donor to Menendez and to the Majority PAC.

That political action committee, run by former Reid staffers, collected more than $700,000 from Melgen and made sure $600,000 of it benefited Menendez’s re-election campaign.

Senate Dem blasts Obama admin on Iran talking points

The senator, now the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and its chairman until two months ago, has become a thorn in the White House's side by taking positions that grate on President Obama.

Menendez opposed the presdient's rapprochement with Cuban strongman Raul Castro, saying in December that his actions 'have vindicated the brutal behavior of the Cuban government.'

He has stood in the way of the State Department's negotiations with Iran, threatening to lead Congress in imposing new sanctions on the Islamic Republic if it doesn't shelve its nuclear ambitions. The White House has insisted the Iranians can be trusted to keep their end of any bargain.

'I have to be honest with you,' Menendez said during a January 21 Capitol Hill hearing. 'The more I hear from the administration and its quotes, the more it sounds like talking points that come straight out of Tehran.' 

While he is not among the senate's super-rich elites, the New Jersey legislator will likely have the capital on hand to fight the charges: His legal defense fund has already collected, and spent, more than $1 million.

Last week two of his Senate aides tried to avoid testifying before the federal grand jury in the case, arguing that the senator's actions, and theirs, are protected by the U.S. Constitution's 'Speech or Debate' clause.

Those words in America's founding document shield federal lawmakers and their offices from executive branch scrutiny, including Justice Department investigations, while they are actively working on legislation.

THE DOCTOR: Salomon Melgen, a wealthy Florida ophthalmologist and a major Menendez donor, was ordered to pay back Medicare for $8.9 million in overbillings, and Menendez intervened with HHS for him  

SEARCH WARRANT: A January 30 raid of Melgen's medical practice yielded van-loads of boxes containing medical and billing records and computer files

According to the New Jersey Law Journal, aide Michael Barnard refused to answer 50 questions about Menendez's conversations with Sebelius and Tavenner, and also declined to talk to the grand jury about contact between the senator's office and Melgen's lawyer-lobbyist about those conversations.

Another more senior aide, former Menendez chief counsel Kerri Talbot, reportedly refused to testify about a separate mattter.

The grand jury wanted to know if Talbot had emailed a staffer at U.S. Customs and Border Protection to ask the agency to stop donating used port-screening equipment – principally cargo-container x-ray machines – to the Dominican Republic.

Melgen, the senator's donor, controlled a company that offered similar equipment and wanted a contract proposal with the island nation to go through. 

The x-ray machines are used by customs and port security officials to screen cargo for narcotics and other contraband.

NARCO-POLITICS: Dr. Melgen controlled a company that wanted a Dominican ports contract to sell x-ray equipment used to screen cargo containers for drugs. Menendez allegedly helped ensure the U.S. wouldn't provide the machines for free

In 2013 FBI agents and investigators from HHS raided Melgen's West Palm Beach, Florida medical office, Vitreo-Retinal Consultants. 

Over a period of nearly 24 hours, then executed search warrants and came out with dozens of boxes containing whatnews reports later described as medical and billing records and computer files.

The Washington Post reported at the time that HHS auditors had raised red flags over the large number of eye surgeries and laser treatments Melgen's practice billed to Medicare.

Other news reports described an alleged scheme in which Melgen used leftover fluid from single-use injection vials to treat two or three additional patients, billing Medicare for a new vial with each treatment.

The government typically paid $2,000 for each container, raising the possibility that Melgen could have overbilled Medicare between $4,000 and $6,000 per vial.

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