Here we go again.

In 2002, Sen. Robert Torricelli quit his re-election campaign after he was caught accepting minor gifts from a shady donor. A promising career crashed in flames.

Now, Sen. Robert Menendez, is on the hot seat for accepting gifts from his own shady donor. Wasn’t he paying attention in 2002? Why would he play such a sloppy game?

“We have to ask this question repeatedly: How can smart people be so stupid?” says Norman Ornstein, an expert on Congress with the American Enterprise Institute. “It happens over and over, so why don’t they see what the consequences are?”

The Menendez scandal is complicated, so here is a cheat sheet:

The bombshell accusation is that the New Jersey Democrat had sex with an underage prostitute in the Dominican Republic during a trip with his donor pal, eye doctor Salomon Melgen.

This one seems like pure slander. There is no credible evidence to support it, even after the FBI and media outlets looked into it. A right-wing blogger was peddling this story in the days before the November election, so it has all the earmarks of a dirty trick.

The gift is a bigger problem. Menendez took two flights to the Dominican Republic on Melgen’s private plane, and somehow he forgot to report that or to reimburse Melgen, as Senate rules require.

This is not a joke. Menendez wants us to believe that it slipped his mind. He finally paid Melgen a $58,500 reimbursement last month — after Republicans flagged the violation.

Photos: Senator Robert Menendez 33 Gallery: Photos: Senator Robert Menendez

No wonder Menendez has been hiding under his desk all week, and is now safely tucked away in an undisclosed location inside Afghanistan. He knows no one in New Jersey would believe his story. And that can make for such awkward interviews.

He will eventually have to come home, of course, and the questions will still be here.

Torricelli has seen this movie before, and knows all about the pressure Menendez is feeling.

“If I have one piece of advice for Bob, it would be to not simply allow accusations to be made and not respond to them,” Torricelli says. “Every accusation should be answered.”

That brings us to the third piece of this scandal, potentially the most damaging part of all.

Menendez, it turns out, has been scurrying around doing favors for Melgen for years.



When a company partly owned by Melgen had a contract to provide port security for the Dominican Republican, it was Menendez who prodded the State and Commerce departments to grease the deal.

The port contract, it turns out, was not being enforced because it was widely criticized as an expensive giveaway to Melgen, who had no experience in port security. Why would Menendez push this contract, if not for the benefit his donor?

At around the same time, Melgen was ordered by Medicare to refund $9 million in fraudulent payments. He went to Menendez, who offered help. According to the senator’s staff, it was an innocent effort to help clarify confusing Medicare regulations.

But Melgen was using his friendship with Menendez as a cudgel to defend himself against fraud investigators, according to a report in the Washington Post quoting unnamed federal officials.

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MORE ROBERT MENENDEZ COVERAGE

• Report: FBI investigating Menendez allegations

• Menendez pushed for several donors fighting Dominican Republic over millions of dollars

• Menendez denies accepting additional flight from donor

• Menendez and Melgen: An inside look at how the money and access flowed

• Menendez, Democrats stand their ground as controversy swirls

“He used Menendez’s name all the time,” the official said. “He would say, ‘Menendez is a good friend of mine, and he knows I never did anything wrong.’ ”

These kinds of official favors become a crime only if a link is established between Menendez’s actions and Melgen’s whopping political donations to Menendez and his causes, which amounted to more than $700,000.

So how will all this play out? The smart money says the Senate will reprimand Menendez and leave it at that.

The worst-case scenario is that Melgen turns on him. The FBI raided Melgen’s office last month, apparently as part of a Medicare fraud investigation, taking away about 30 boxes. If prosecutors wind up charging Melgen, they are likely to offer him leniency if he can produce evidence that will give them the senator’s scalp.

“I’d expect a reprimand,” Ornstein says. “But obviously it depends on whether there is more stuff we don’t know about.”

The good news for Menendez: A Monmouth University poll released last week showed that most voters don't care about this scandal.

But that, too, will hinge on whether there is more “stuff” we don’t know about.

Tom Moran may be reached at tmoran@starledger.com or (973) 392-5728. Follow him on twitter at @tomamoran.

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