By Matt Rooney | The Save Jersey Blog
We learned more today about Senator Bob Menendez’s alleged ties to a Florida doctor and political donor whose office was raided by the FBI, Save Jerseyans.
Specifically, that Menendez’s donor/friend in question “bought an ownership interest in a company that had a long-dormant contract with the Dominican Republic to provide port security,” after which the New Jersey Senator allegedly “urged officials in the State and Commerce Departments to intervene so the contract would be enforced, at an estimated value of $500 million.” (h/t New York Times).
Guess who the NYT says Senator Menendez grilled over the contract?
Aides acknowledged on Wednesday that Mr. Menendez had spoken to State Department officials about the contract. And at a hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere last July, he questioned two administration officials — Francisco J. Sánchez, the undersecretary for international trade at the Commerce Department, and Matthew Rooney, the deputy assistant secretary in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs for the State Department — about why the United States government had not been more aggressive on the issue.” [Emphasis Added]
Surprise!
Not fooled? Well, of course it’s a different “Matt Rooney” referenced in the article than your beloved Blogger-in-Chief; the “other” Matt is a distinguished career diplomat who, according to his biography, has been in the Foreign Service since 1985 (one year after I was born) and previously “served in the Ivory Coast, Germany, Gabon and El Salvador focusing on macroeconomic policy, energy exploration and trade issues.”
Still, more than one Save Jersey reader reported doing a double-take today when scanning the NYT’s article. But don’t worry, folks! For the record, this Matt Rooney isn’t expecting any foreign policy appointments from incoming Secretary Kerry.
