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The investigation has focused on the senator’s financial connections to a Florida doctor and close friend, Dr. Salomon Melgen, who is facing a probe into his billing practices. The FBI has examined whether the senator improperly sought to help the doctor in that inquiry and whether Mr. Menendez may have improperly used his influence with the Department of Homeland Security on behalf of the doctor on an unrelated issue, according to people familiar with the investigation. (Barrett and Grossman, 3/6)

A law enforcement official confirmed that criminal charges were expected, but said no action was imminent because prosecutors have been hamstrung by attempts to compel members of the Menendez staff to discuss a series of phone calls the senator allegedly exchanged with federal Medicare and Medicaid officials on behalf of Melgen. At that time in 2012, the doctor was locked in a dispute with government officials who alleged he was overbilling Medicare and Medicaid. Melgen, one of the nation's top-billing ophthalmologists, was paid $21 million from Medicare and Medicaid in 2012, more than any other doctor in the country. He eventually became the subject of a fraud investigation, with the FBI raiding his medical offices in 2013. He has not been charged in that investigation. (Serrano, Tanfani and Memoli, 3/6)