US agrees to delay Sen. Bob Menendez’s corruption trial over wife’s health

Federal prosecutors backed a request on Wednesday to delay New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez’s corruption trial for at least two months due to his wife and alleged partner-in-crime dealing with an undisclosed health issue.

The feds wrote a letter to Manhattan federal Judge Sidney Stein asking that the May 6 trial date be pushed back until July or August to allow Nadine Menendez, 56, time to recover from what her lawyers have called a “serious” health condition that requires surgery.

Nadine will undergo surgery within four to six weeks, her lawyers said Tuesday, adding she wouldn’t be in the “physical or psychological condition” to help prep for the sprawling corruption trial during that time. 

Her lawyers did not disclose specifics about the medical condition but sent the judge more details in a separate court filing that was sealed to protect her privacy.

Prosecutors said that their office “takes seriously the unexpected medical development” and endorsed a few-months pause for the Garden State Democrat, 70, to tend to his wife. 

But the feds opposed a hiatus for any extended period of time, and stressed that the married couple should be tried together in order to avoid having to call witnesses who live outside of New York  — including some who “have expressed a concern about testifying” — to the stand two separate times.

The senator stands accused, alongside his wife, of accepting bribes that included more than $150,000 in gold bars, $566,000 in cash payments, a Mercedes-Benz convertible and other lavish gifts to assist businessmen Wael Hana, Jose Uribe, and Fred Daibes, all of whom were also charged. Uribe has pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate.

Prosecutors allege that Uribe bribed Menendez to entice the senator to “pressure” the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office to resolve a criminal prosecution of one of his associates.

Court papers also allege that the Menendezes were acting as foreign agents on behalf of the Egyptian and Qatari governments.

They have each pleaded not guilty.