Back in 2012, the Daily Caller whipped up a scandal around Democratic New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez, who, the conservative blog alleged, liked his prostitutes Dominican and underaged. That story turned out to be fake, and now, it seems like forces even more nefarious than Tucker Carlson were behind it.

According to a Washington Post report, Menendez is urging the Justice Department to follow up on CIA-obtained evidence (which the Post calls "credible") that Cuba may have planted the story as part of a smear campaign. Menendez, a Cuban-American, is a longtime critic of the Castro government.

The Post lays out how the scheme may have worked:

The intelligence information indicated that operatives from Cuba's Directorate of Intelligence helped create a fake tipster using the name "Pete Williams," according to the former official. The tipster told FBI agents and others he had information about Menendez participating in poolside sex parties with underage prostitutes while vacationing at the Dominican Republic home of Salomon Melgen, a wealthy eye doctor, donor and friend of the senator.

The FBI followed up on that tip and didn't find enough evidence to pursue Menendez. The Daily Caller published its story in November 2012.

The revelation doesn't put the Senator entirely in the clear, however. A less salacious charge against him — that he "used his position to benefit Melgen's business interests," the Post writes — is still under investigation.

[Image via AP]