From the article: "The possible Yzaguirre ties to the ongoing Menendez story fell on my lap as I delved into why a powerful, but small, sector of U.S. Latino leaders, led by NCLR and its current president, Janet Murgia, came to Menéndez’s defense less than 48 hours after the senator was indicted by the Justice Department.
The impression one gets from their emails and articles was one of circling the wagons around Menéndez."
The author points out that it was Senator Menendez who had lobbied Obama to give Yzaguirre the Dominican ambassadorship.
Later in the article: "I see no problem in a senator vouching for a friend. There’s nothing abnormal or wrong with that. It’s what happened after Yzaguirre is named that I wonder about. Remember that part of the Menéndez indictment deals with the Melgen port deal in the Dominican Republic.
Check out the dates on this deal and tell me the smell of rotten fish doesn’t permeate this relationship. Remember, Yzaguirre is named ambassador at the end of 2010 and departs in May 2013.
Here’s a chronology of the Melgen-Menéndez role in the Dominican port deal, according to BreitBart.com:
August 2011 – Dr. Salomon Melgen purchases a 50% interest in ICSSI for $100,000 through his company Boarder Support Services, LLC. The only significant asset of ICSSI–the company in which he now owns a half interest–is a disputed and unimplemented concessionary port contract that could be worth $500 million over ten years, but it has been languishing in litigation for seven years, with no end in sight.
December 2011 – Dominican President Leonel Fernández, a friend of Melgen’s who has attended at least one event at Melgen’s Dominican mansion, creates a commission designed to circumvent the stalled ICSSI legal case. He stacks the commission with Melgen allies, including the former legal counsel for ICSSI.
May 20, 2012 – Danilo Medina is elected President of the Dominican Republic. He is a member of the same party as his predecessor, Leonel Fernández. Fernández’s wife wins election as Medina’s Vice-President.
July 31, 2012 – United States Senator Robert Menéndez, a close friend of Dr. Melgen, publicly pressures State Department officials at a hearing of a Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee he chairs to “send a message” to the Dominican Republic that the country must not violate contracts with companies that are American owned.
August 15, 2012 – On the last day of his term, the commission established by Dominican Republic President Fernández issues a report with recommendations to him that are highly favorable to Melgen’s ICSSI. It recommends removing the implementation of the contract from the Customs Directorate, which opposes it, to the Dominican Port Authority, which presumably is more inclined to implement the ICSSI contract. The commission also rejects the Customs Directorate’s recommendation that the entire contract be re-opened for competitive bidding.
August 16, 2012 – Danilo Medina is inaugurated as President of the Dominican Republic, replacing Leonel Fernández. Medina must now decide whether to accept the recommendations of his predecessor’s commission to force implementation of the ICSSI contract or wait for the court case to be resolved.
February 1, 2013 – Senator Robert Menéndez becomes Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
February 5, 2013 – The New York Times reports that a lawyer for Melgen’s security company claims that Pedro Pablo Permuy, a former senior aide to Senator Robert Menendez, will run the operations of the firm’s Dominican port security contract. In an email to the Times, Permuy denies that he is either an employee or a board member of Melgen’s security company. He does not comment on whether he has been paid by Melgen as a consultant. A spokesman for Senator Menendez claims the senator had no knowledge of Permuy’s involvement with Melgen’s company prior to this week.
I am NOT an investigative reporter. And my intention with this column is for a larger outlet with paid investigators to look into this. I don’t believe in coincidences. Ambassador Yzaguirre, practically named by Menéndez, arrives in Santo Domingo months before the Melgen port deal, and departs his post three months after the deal is consummated. Who carried the water for Melgen/Menéndez on behalf of the U.S. government?
Anyone with a nose for news should be going HMMM…"
view the rest of the comments →
Vindicator ago
Hmmm...I wonder who that redacted name is, and why they decided this email fell in the "wedding plans and yoga" category.
Factfinder2 ago
Wedding plans and yoga :)
The ambassador who was installed in 2010 was former National Council of La Raza president Raul Yzaguirre https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raul_Yzaguirre
I think Yzaguirre was the redacted name, and I think it was because of his ties to Senator Robert Menendez and the huge scandal that broke in 2013. Medicare fraudster Dr. Salomon Melgen was said to be procuring Dominican underage prostitutes for the senator. He paid the senator to use his clout in Congress to intervene on his behalf in the fraud case and also some underhanded business regarding Dominican port screening equipment. Oh, and also procuring visas for Melgen's foreign girlfriends. Here's the story: http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/03/07/federal-corruption-charges-senator-menendez-allegedly-intervened-illegally-in-dominican-port-security-deal-and-9-million-medicare-overbilling-case/ Here are the indictment details: http://dailycaller.com/2015/04/01/here-are-the-salacious-details-of-robert-menendezs-indictment/
This is an opinion piece dealing with Yzaguirre's connections to Senator Menendez and the scandal: http://progresoweekly.us/raul-yzaguirre-nclr-and-the-menendez-investigation/
From the article: "The possible Yzaguirre ties to the ongoing Menendez story fell on my lap as I delved into why a powerful, but small, sector of U.S. Latino leaders, led by NCLR and its current president, Janet Murgia, came to Menéndez’s defense less than 48 hours after the senator was indicted by the Justice Department.
The impression one gets from their emails and articles was one of circling the wagons around Menéndez."
The author points out that it was Senator Menendez who had lobbied Obama to give Yzaguirre the Dominican ambassadorship.
Later in the article: "I see no problem in a senator vouching for a friend. There’s nothing abnormal or wrong with that. It’s what happened after Yzaguirre is named that I wonder about. Remember that part of the Menéndez indictment deals with the Melgen port deal in the Dominican Republic.
Check out the dates on this deal and tell me the smell of rotten fish doesn’t permeate this relationship. Remember, Yzaguirre is named ambassador at the end of 2010 and departs in May 2013.
Here’s a chronology of the Melgen-Menéndez role in the Dominican port deal, according to BreitBart.com:
August 2011 – Dr. Salomon Melgen purchases a 50% interest in ICSSI for $100,000 through his company Boarder Support Services, LLC. The only significant asset of ICSSI–the company in which he now owns a half interest–is a disputed and unimplemented concessionary port contract that could be worth $500 million over ten years, but it has been languishing in litigation for seven years, with no end in sight.
December 2011 – Dominican President Leonel Fernández, a friend of Melgen’s who has attended at least one event at Melgen’s Dominican mansion, creates a commission designed to circumvent the stalled ICSSI legal case. He stacks the commission with Melgen allies, including the former legal counsel for ICSSI.
May 20, 2012 – Danilo Medina is elected President of the Dominican Republic. He is a member of the same party as his predecessor, Leonel Fernández. Fernández’s wife wins election as Medina’s Vice-President.
July 31, 2012 – United States Senator Robert Menéndez, a close friend of Dr. Melgen, publicly pressures State Department officials at a hearing of a Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee he chairs to “send a message” to the Dominican Republic that the country must not violate contracts with companies that are American owned.
August 15, 2012 – On the last day of his term, the commission established by Dominican Republic President Fernández issues a report with recommendations to him that are highly favorable to Melgen’s ICSSI. It recommends removing the implementation of the contract from the Customs Directorate, which opposes it, to the Dominican Port Authority, which presumably is more inclined to implement the ICSSI contract. The commission also rejects the Customs Directorate’s recommendation that the entire contract be re-opened for competitive bidding.
August 16, 2012 – Danilo Medina is inaugurated as President of the Dominican Republic, replacing Leonel Fernández. Medina must now decide whether to accept the recommendations of his predecessor’s commission to force implementation of the ICSSI contract or wait for the court case to be resolved.
February 1, 2013 – Senator Robert Menéndez becomes Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
February 5, 2013 – The New York Times reports that a lawyer for Melgen’s security company claims that Pedro Pablo Permuy, a former senior aide to Senator Robert Menendez, will run the operations of the firm’s Dominican port security contract. In an email to the Times, Permuy denies that he is either an employee or a board member of Melgen’s security company. He does not comment on whether he has been paid by Melgen as a consultant. A spokesman for Senator Menendez claims the senator had no knowledge of Permuy’s involvement with Melgen’s company prior to this week.
I am NOT an investigative reporter. And my intention with this column is for a larger outlet with paid investigators to look into this. I don’t believe in coincidences. Ambassador Yzaguirre, practically named by Menéndez, arrives in Santo Domingo months before the Melgen port deal, and departs his post three months after the deal is consummated. Who carried the water for Melgen/Menéndez on behalf of the U.S. government?
Anyone with a nose for news should be going HMMM…"
Here's a previous Voat thread discussing the senator and his fate: https://voat.co/v/pizzagate/1619555
I think we need to find out why the Dominican port deal was so important to TPTB. Was it about more than just Menendez helping out a partner in crime?
8/9/17 UPDATE: In a last-ditch effort before his trial starts in Sept. 2017, Senator Menendez fails to get corruption charges dismissed: http://freebeacon.com/politics/judge-democrat-bob-menendez-must-face-corruption-charge-in-court/
Allegations that Dr. Melgen trafficked underage prostitutes for the senator could not be proven after a witness said she had been paid for making her statements about the senator, and there was never an indictment on those charges: http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/woman-paid-lie-claim-sex-senator-menendez/story?id=18653773 http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/crime/article32381385.html
Vindicator ago
Factfinder2, in light of this additional information, I'm going to give this post a "Potential Lead" flair. :-)
Factfinder2 ago
Thanks, V.
Pinging you, @atheist4thecause, to notify you know that your post has been upgraded by Vindicator.
atheist4thecause ago
Thanks for the ping! Good work!