On Friday, the New York Times called for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to remove Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) from his position as Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Late Monday, after a damaging investigative report in the Times earlier in the day, Dorothy Samuels, in the editorial page editor’s blog, once again called on Reid to remove Menendez from his chairmanship, this time in even more forceful language.
At this point in this unfolding political drama there are two intriguing mysteries.
How did Dr. Melgen, who is the subject of a federal fraud investigation, presumably related to overbilling $8.9 million for care at his eye clinic, come up with the money to make such large political gifts?
And when will the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, require Mr. Menendez to give up his leadership role?
It seems clear that the New York Times will continue its investigation into Senator Menendez. With each new story, the Times, Breitbart News, and other journalistic outlets are discovering more questionable details about the relationship between Menendez and Florida opthalmologist Dr. Salomon Melgen.
Through its editorial page, the Times is signalling to Menendez that it is time to give up the fight. There can be little question that Menendez has received the message. The only question that remains is whether he believes he should ignore the message and try to weather the growing storm.
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