Escort says Menendez prostitution claims were made up

It's about time we put this issue to bed (pun intended) and get on with the act of governing down in Washington.

From the Washington Post:

An escort who appeared on a video claiming that Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) paid her for sex has told Dominican authorities that she was instead paid to make up the claims and has never met or seen the senator, according to court documents and two people briefed on her claim. 

The woman said a local lawyer had approached her and a fellow escort and asked them help frame Menendez and a top donor, Salomon Melgen, according to affidavits obtained by The Post. 

That lawyer has in turn identified a second Dominican lawyer who he said gave the woman a script and paid her to read the claims aloud. The first lawyer said he found out only later that the remarks would be videotaped and used against Menendez, the affidavits say. 

The escort was one of two women whose claims initially seemed to confirm a tipster’s allegations that Menendez had patronized prostitutes while vacationing in the Dominican Republic. The tipster, who last spring began e-mailing allegations to a government watchdog group and the FBI, said he had evidence that Menendez had relations with underage prostitutes and participated in sex parties arranged by Melgen, his friend and political backer....

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