Commerce Dept. official says co-defendant’s lawyer used Menendez to intimidate him

A Commerce Department official alleged Monday that a lawyer for Sen. Bob Menendez’s (D-N.J.) co-defendant Salomon Melgen used his client’s political connections to try to intimidate agency officials over a lucrative port security contract.

Melgen, a Florida eye doctor, purchased a 50 percent stake in a security company with a contract to screen cargo at a port in the Dominican Republic in 2011. But his lawyer allegedly reached out when the Dominican government reportedly planned to begin using equipment donated by the U.S. to screen cargo.

Scott Smith, an international trade specialist in the Commerce Department, testified at Menendez’s and Melgen’s corruption and bribery trial that a legal representative for Melgen met with him and his boss to ask that the donated equipment be removed, according to NJ Advance Media.

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Smith told jurors on Monday that he had initially urged his boss not to take the meeting, but that they decided to attend at least in part because “Melgen had a lot of political friends and they could cause real problems for the Commerce Department.”

Asked by prosecutors if Melgen’s lawyer mentioned anyone in particular, Smith named Menendez. 

“[Melgen’s lawyer] was very aggressive and threatening,” Smith said. “He constantly brought up the fact that he could make trouble for the department.”

Menendez is standing trial in federal court in New Jersey alongside Melgen on charges of corruption and bribery. Prosecutors allege that Menendez took lavish gifts, vacations and political donations from Melgen in exchange for using his political influence to further the eye doctor’s business and personal interests.

Both men have denied the charges, saying that the gifts were only the product of a decades-long friendship. Menendez contends that his actions were part of his legitimate legislative duties.