Democratic Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey is expected to take a rather unique approach to defending himself in an upcoming federal corruption trial: He’s going to blame his wife.
Fox News Digital obtained court documents that were unsealed recently that show that Menendez’s attorneys are arguing for his case to be severed because he intends to bring evidence to the table that would implicate his wife Nadine.
Severing the case would essentially try the two co-defendants in this case — Menendez and his wife — separately, rather than trying them together as a couple.
Both he and his wife have pleaded not guilty to charges of obstruction of justice and bribery.
The couple has been accused of accepting bribes that have totaled hundreds of thousands of dollars. That came in the form of gold bars, a Mercedes-Benz vehicle and cash, all for the benefit of business individuals as well as the Egyptian government as a whole.
At the time the recent documents came to light, Nadine’s case had already been severed. The documents do show, though, the evidence that could be presented at trial.
Fox News Digital reports that the court filing shows that Menendez’s attorneys are implying that they will introduce evidence that will show he wasn’t aware of the illegal activities that are alleged to have occurred.
His lawyers say the senator might testify regarding communications he had wife Nadine that might exonerate him but implicate her. It’s alleged that Nadine withheld information from Menendez.
As the document states:
“At trial, as part of his defense, Senator Menendez may elect to testify to communications with his wife that serve to materially decrease any inference of culpability on Senator Menendez’s part.
“Senator Menendez will explain, for example, what he and his wife discussed contemporaneously with their dinners with Egyptian officials (which colored his understanding of the purpose of such dinners); the explanations that Nadine provided for why [co-defendants Wael Hanna and Jose Uribe] had provided her certain monetary items; the reasons why he sent his wife a series of questions that other Senators purportedly intended to ask an Egyptian official; and many more topics.”
The documents also pointed out that the information the senator might introduce could demonstrate ways that Nadine withheld pertinent information from him, “or otherwise led him to believe that nothing unlawful was taking place.”
The Department of Justice alleges that Menendez and his wife received the bribes by Hana and Fred Daibes — two businessmen from New Jersey — in exchange for the senator’s influence and power.
The couple is also accused of receiving gifts from Uribe. In March, he pleaded guilty to the bribery charges that were levied against him.
The attorneys for Nadine have already requested that her trial be postponed due to an “unexpected medical development” that has arisen. She was recently diagnosed with “a serious medical condition,” according to her lawyers.
As of now, Nadine’s trial is set to begin on July 8, while Menendez will see his trial begin May 6.
