(MintPress) – The power of the sex scandal is proving once again to be relevant in today’s political world as Democratic U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey defends himself against allegations of engaging in prostitution during a visit to the Dominican Republic.
His case grew stronger Tuesday as the women revealed they were paid to make false claims of engaging in sexual intercourse with the American senator. The women’s claims were backed up by police within the Dominican Republic later that day, according to the Associated Press. The sums of money allegedly handed over to the women included individual payouts of up to $425.
“The evidence released today by Dominican law enforcement authorities proves what we have said all along: that the smear campaign against Senator Menendez is based on lies, lies we now know were paid for by interests whose identities have not yet been fully disclosed,” Tricia Enright, Menendez’s communications director said in a statement.
The women claimed two attorneys, Melanie Figueroa and Miguel Galvan, were at the forefront of the scandal, offering the women money for the lies, according to CNN.
Galvan previously told the news outlet he had been asked by another lawyer to assist in a divorce case involving Menendez, specifically to find witnesses who would confirm engaging in prostitution with the senator. Figueroa has avoided giving comment to reporters.
The consequences of a scandal
The story first blew up when reported on conservative site, The Daily Caller, in the lead-up to Menendez’s re-election campaign this November, when two of the women spoke to the news organization through video conferencing from the Dominican Republic.
The Daily Caller had repeatedly defended its story, according to The National Memo. On Monday, it ran an updated version of the story, including Associated Press information confirming the women were paid to make false claims.
Throughout that time, Menendez claimed the allegations were false, a smear campaign intended on taking him down. Voters weren’t too fazed by the allegations, as the Democrat was re-elected.
“I decided that at a time of such cynicism and negativity — we’ve had over a decade of personal destruction in this state — that I was going to run a campaign where I would look straight into the camera, tell people who I am, where I came from, what I can do for them and have done for them,” he told the Star-Ledger newspaper following his victory.
While the alleged sex scandal didn’t take him down, it did hang over him — until just days ago. Others accused of engaging in prostitution or other forms of sex scandals haven’t gotten off the hook, resulting in the demise of their careers.
Recent sex scandals In Washington
The nation saw it with the sex scandal committed by former CIA Director David Petraeus and Paula Broadwell, the author of Petraeus’s biography and former army lieutenant. The scandal proved to be devastating, resulting in Petraeus stepping down from his position in November 2012.
Broadwell was revoked of her promotion to lieutenant in February 2013, allegedly due to the investigation that stemmed from her affair with Petraeus.
According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the investigation was centered around whether Broadwell transported classified documents to her home, alleged to have been associated with her work on the Petraeus biography. That information came to light when news of the sex scandal broke.
In August 2012, just months prior, the nation’s headlines were bogged down with U.S. secret service members’ engagement with prostitutes in Colombia, where they were stationed during President Barack Obama’s visit. The four secret service members who were either let go or resigned are now fighting back, claiming they weren’t the only ones. Their misconduct, they said, was standard procedure.
John Edwards’ affairs cost him a few charges for allegedly spending upward of $1 million to hide his mistresses and their children, whom he fathered. At one point a vice presidential candidate with now Secretary of State John Kerry, Edwards will no longer be accepted with arms wide open into the political world. While he was found not guilty of using campaign donations to cover up his romances, his reputation has been severely tarnished.
Bill Clinton, on the other hand, made it through the infamous Lewinsky case, even after telling the American public he did not have sexual relations with the woman. While still the source of jokes, he’s emerged as a generally well-respected man, and husband of now prominent Hillary Clinton.