Menendez, Prieto Urge Obamacare Sign-Ups In West New York

WEST NEW YORK, NJ — Leading New Jersey Democrats Sen. Bob Menendez and Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto joined local Rep. Albio Sires in West New York to urge people to sign up for health coverage under the Affordable Care Act, President Barack Obama's signature law. Open enrollment ends Dec. 15.

The Friday rally came just a day after a federal judge declared a mistrial in the case against Menendez and Florida eye doctor Salomon Melgen. Jurors couldn't agree on a verdict in the case.

Prosecutors said Menendez helped Melgen with a Medicare billing dispute and received lavish trips in return. Both men denied any wrongdoing.

Menendez wouldn't say Friday whether he'd seeking re-election, but his political adviser said a decision is expected in the coming weeks.

When asked about his comment after the mistrial was declared that he would not forget those who tried to dig his "political grave," Menendez joked that "they're no longer on my Christmas list."

Responding to Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's call for an ethics investigation, Menendez said the inquiry was "not a new pursuit," and added that he had been open with the committee.

The committee said Thursday it will resume its inquiry, which started in 2012 and was deferred a year later because of the criminal investigation.

If he decides to run for re-election, Menendez has the backing of Democratic Gov.-elect Phil Murphy and the state's top legislative leaders, as well as power broker George Norcross.

Prosecutors have not yet decided whether they will seek to retry the charges.

Menendez was accused of selling his political influence to Melgen for vacations in the Caribbean and Paris, flights on Melgen's jet and hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions to campaign organizations that supported the senator directly or indirectly.

In return, prosecutors said, Menendez pressured government officials on Melgen's behalf over an $8.9 million Medicare billing dispute and a stalled contract to provide port screening equipment in the Dominican Republic, and also helped obtain U.S. visas for the 63-year-old doctor's girlfriends.

According to prosecutors, Melgen essentially put Menendez on the payroll and made the politician his "personal senator," available as needed.

The defense argued that the gifts were not bribes but tokens of friendship between two men who have known each other for more than 20 years and were "like brothers."

Melgen is already facing the possibility of a long prison sentence after being convicted in April of bilking Medicare out of as much as $105 million by performing unneeded tests and treatments.

The Menendez case was the first major federal bribery trial since the U.S. Supreme Court in 2016 threw out the conviction of Republican former Gov. Bob McDonnell of Virginia and narrowed the definition of bribery.

Photo credit: Seth Wenig/Associated Press