Image: J. Scott Applewhite/Associated Press
The story surrounding accusations that a senator visited prostitutes in Dominican Republic has somehow become more interesting.
Robert Menendez, a Democratic U.S. senator for New Jersey, has asked that the Justice Department look into evidence that the Cuban government schemed up a 2012 story in the Daily Caller that nearly derailed his reelection campaign. The article centered around an interview with two underage women who said Menendez paid them for sex.
Menendez, an an outspoken critic of Fidel Castro and the Cuban government, fervently denied the story. One woman later recanted her claims, adding that she had been approached by a lawyer to help devise the scandal.
Now, evidence is emerging that the story may have been concocted by Cuban agents. The Washington Post cited a source within the CIA who had "credible evidence" linking Cuban intelligence personnel to the claims against Menendez, and that a plot was hatched with the distinct effort of planting the story in the media. An attorney for Menendez sent a letter to the Justice Department seeking further investigation.
After it was published in the Daily Caller, the story spread quickly. Other media outlets attempted to corroborate the story, but were unable to substantiate the claims. The story was further complicated by the fact that Menendez was, and still is, the subject of a broader investigation from federal officials on donor relationships.
Operations like these, known as psychology ops (or "psy ops" for short), are not entirely uncommon between Cuba and the U.S. Recently, the U.S. tried to start a "Cuban Twitter" in hopes that it would lead to social unrest.
The Daily Caller not only stood by the story, but also called out BuzzFeed for not publishing enough stories on the Menendez claims.
Tucker Carlson, conservative pundit and founder and editor in chief of the Daily Caller, told the Washington Post that news of the Cuban connection was "bizarre on its face, but also fascinating." Carlson told Business Insider that the claims are being investigated by the Daily Caller.
The notion that the Cuban government could plant a story that would have an impact on a U.S. election is troubling. Menendez won his second U.S. Senate term in 2012 by about 20 percentage points over his Republican opponent, but was seen at the time of the scandal as vulnerable.
Few other outlets reported the story at the time, but the allegations ended up in a variety of publications, including BuzzFeed, the Miami Herald (which found the scandal to be a "dead end"), Politico and the New York Times.
Ryan Holiday, a media strategist and author of Trust Me, I'm Lying, which delves into how false stories can bubble up from blogs to mainstream media outlets, said the Menendez scandal showed how easy it can be to manipulate the press.
"We live in a media culture that discusses what's being discussed, and when you're accused of something controversial that puts you in an extremely vulnerable position," he told Mashable.
Sex scandals, Holiday noted, are particularly ripe for use due to their salacious nature.
"There's very little that's more damaging than accusations of underage illicit sex," he said. "These things can be complicated and there can be all sorts of details that can make someone suspicious, and when you're a blogger and your job is to just throw up 700 words before anyone else, you're deliberately blind to those things."
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