For the second time in a year, federal agents have raided the office of a Florida eye doctor with close ties to Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ).
CNN reported on Tuesday that agents from the Department of Health and Human Services and the Federal Bureau of Investigation removed “box after box of materials” from the West Palm Beach office of Dr. Salomon Melgen. Melgen has been a major donor to Menendez, and their names were linked earlier this year in a bizarre scandal that involved allegations of trips to the Dominican Republic and dalliances with prostitutes but which seemed to fall apart over a lack of substantiation, the questionable credibility of anonymous tipsters, and retractions from purported witnesses.
According to The Palm Beach Post, 15 to 20 agents spent about three hours at Melgen’s office on Tuesday.
The nature of the raid was unclear. The FBI declined to provide information to CNN, while Melgen’s lawyer suggested the search was the government’s revenge for Melgen’s decision to sue the government over Medicare payments.
“While we believe that today’s intrusion was in retaliation and there was no legitimate need for the search, the FBI’s actions will not prevent Dr. Melgen from continuing his full cooperation with the government,” Matthew Menchel, Melgen’s attorney, told CNN.
