Article snippet: One of Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., with the president recently reviving a controversy involving Blumenthal's military service. The two men have a storied and complicated relationship that started well before Trump took office. Blumenthal's career started in law and then merged into government and public service, but his familial ties put his relatives in Trump's real estate orbit. Blumenthal married Cynthia Malkin in 1982, and in doing so, he became a part of a real estate empire. Cynthia Malkin's father Peter runs a real estate company, assets from which help contribute to Blumenthal's own net worth. In 2015, Blumenthal, regularly listed among the wealthiest members of Congress, was ranked by Roll Call as the eighth richest lawmaker with a net worth of $66.99 million. Trump and Peter Malkin have had business run-ins well before Blumenthal started publicly criticizing Trump in the political arena. Trump and Malkin's most public battle over partial ownership of the Empire State Building was drawn out for years. According to a 1998 article in The New York Observer, Trump sued Malkin and Leona Helmsley, who jointly controlled the iconic building's lease. Trump argued that Malkin and Helmsley "let the skyscraper deteriorate into a 'roach-infested' commercial slum swarming with second-rate tenants," according to the article. The suit was later dismissed. In 2010, when then-Connecticut Attorney General Blumenthal was running to fill the state's vac... Link to the full article to read more