Remember Salomon Melgen? He is the Florida ophthalmologist and major Democratic donor whose relationship with Senator Bob Menendez (D., N.J.) prompted a federal investigation amid allegations that the Senator accepted and failed to report inappropriate gifts from Melgen and used his influence in Congress to protect Melgen’s financial interests in the Dominican Republican.
Melgen is back in the news after a Wall Street Journal lawsuit revealed that he was the single largest recipient of Medicare reimbursements in 2012, collecting more than $20 million from the federal government that year.
Years earlier, Melgen was the subject of a federal investigation that determined he had overbilled the government for $9 million in inappropriate Medicare expenses between 2007 and 2008. Melgen was forced to repay the money.
Of course, this wouldn’t be a true example of Democrats behaving badly without a connection to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.). Campaign finance records show that Melgen’s firm donated more than $700,000 to Majority PAC, a super PAC run by former Reid aides. The PAC spent most of that money helping Menendez win reelection in 2012.
