The Daily Caller on Thursday published a report that said the conservative news organization stands by its reporting on prostitution allegations against Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), but added that “several troubling elements in the story remain.”
The Daily Caller reported it has not been able to contact Nexis de los Santos Santana, the Dominican escort who has said she was paid to say she had sex with Menendez for money. The Daily Caller also said it has not been able to reach Miguel Galvan, a Dominical lawyer allegedly involved in the scheme.
From executive editor David Martosko’s report:
On Nov. 1, 2012, The Daily Caller published videotaped interviews with two women who said they were paid to have sex with New Jersey Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez in the Dominican Republic.
This week The Washington Post and other media outlets cast doubt on that story, reporting uncritically on an affidavit filed Feb. 25 in the Dominican Republic and bearing the signature of a woman who has been unavailable for interviews, and whose existence no media outlet has yet corroborated.
Before publishing the story, TheDC independently corroborated some elements of the women’s claims, including Menendez’s nonexistent public schedule and the flight records of the private jet he was likely on during the weekend the women claimed their sexual encounters occurred. TheDC also vetted the source who brought the women forward, and reconfirmed details with that source after The Washington Post’s story broke Monday.
The report also said The Daily Caller is not done digging into the story: “TheDC is actively pursuing the story, has investigators on the ground in the Dominican Republic, and will continue to report new facts as they emerge — whether or not they support its earlier reporting,” Martosko wrote.
Correction: This post originally did not include mention of what the Daily Caller piece described as “troubling” elements of the story. It has been updated.
