Media attempts to track down the several women referred to in Williams’ emails (as well as one woman Williams claimed wrote an email he forwarded to CREW) have come up empty, with a couple possible exceptions. One of the women, according to the Williams emails, was named “Svetlana B.” The Miami Herald tracked down a Russian woman named Svitlana Buchyk, who in 2010 got into a minor crash while driving a car that belonged to Melgen’s wife. Buchyk told the newspaper she used to work for Melgen, but would not say what kind of work — though she called the doctor an “amazing person.” Likewise, Univision found a woman whose name, Yaneisi Fernandez, matches another of the women mentioned in the Williams emails. She cried on camera and denied any involvement in the story. But some outlets have questioned if Univision got the right Yaneisi Fernandez.
In his correspondence with CREW, Williams provided a few pieces of biographical information. He claimed to be an American citizen and, as noted above, to have some kind of business interests in the Dominican Republic. He claimed to be the father of two adolescent girls. His English is sometimes awkward. Additionally, in an email Williams forwarded to CREW, which was allegedly written in Spanish by one of the women involved with Menendez and Melgen, Williams is referred to twice as “Piter.”
The FBI declined to comment on the authenticity of the emails uploaded to the WordPress site. But those documents suggest that even an FBI agent who contacted Williams last summer, Special Agent Regino Chavez, who works in the bureau’s Miami field office, had some frustrations with Williams’ unwillingness to meet. According to the emails, Chavez planned a trip to the Dominican Republic in mid-December. But on Dec. 19, he emailed Williams and said “I am holding off on traveling to the Dominican Republic until I hear from you.”
In early November, Williams and Chavez traded emails about The Daily Caller’s story in which two women made their videotaped allegations about Menendez.
“After watching the video I wonder if there’s a serious investigation behind it or if It’s [sic] just a media show,” Williams wrote on Nov. 3. “The girls I know are very frightened. I can’t rule out the girls in the video belong [sic] to their circle too.”
Williams went on to note that The Daily Caller story did not mention “underage girls.” And he asked if there was “any implication for the ongoing investigation with this disclosure?”
“I hope not,” Williams continued, “since my intention is to continue a direct exchange and collaboration with you in complete discretion.”
The last of the emails between the agent and tipster available online came from Williams, on Dec. 25. Williams told Chavez he was having some trouble “with some of the people who were collaborating with me on this.”
“It is utterly essential that I solve these problems before our long-expected meeting,” Williams wrote. “I hope this new obstacle won’t stop your improvements in this issue. Next time I’ll give you details of these situations I’ve had. Merry Christmas!”
Eric Lach
Eric Lach is a reporter for TPM. From 2010 to 2011, he was a news writer in charge of the website’s front page. He has previously written for The Daily, NewYorker.com, GlobalPost and other publications. He can be reached at ericl(at)talkingpointsmemo.com
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