Sen. Bob Menendez, wife Nadine will be tried separately on bribery charges, judge rules
The corruption case against embattled New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez will be heard prior to a similar case against the Democrat’s wife, Nadine, a Manhattan federal judge ruled Thursday.
The trial of the 70-year-old Menendez remains scheduled to commence on May 6 following the decision by senior US District Judge Sidney Stein.
The trial of Nadine Menendez is now tentatively set for July 8 after her legal team pleaded for a delay due to surgery for an unspecified medical condition.
“This trial is going forward without Mrs. Menendez,” said Stein, who cited the need for “stability and certainty to all parties.”
“The government is going to have to try this case two times.”
Prosecutors had not objected to Nadine Menendez’s request for a delay, but had asked for the pending trial of the Menendezes and two other defendants to be pushed back to “July or August” to avoid “serious inefficiencies and unfairness,” including the need to recall dozens of witnesses.
Stein also gave Nadine Menendez 30 days to find new attorneys after her current four-member representation team filed a motion to withdraw from the case last week.
Prosecutors had informed Judge Stein in a filing that they may call one of Nadine’s current lawyers, David Schertler, as a witness in the case.
Both Bob and Nadine Menendez are facing 18 criminal counts in a sprawling bribery case and have pleaded not guilty.
Co-defendants Wael Hana and Fred Daibes have also pleaded not guilty to allegations that they gave cash and gold bars to the Menendez’s in return for political favors.
In Hana’s case, prosecutors say, Menendez helped him get a lucrative halal meat-certification deal with Egypt, while the senator helped Daibes get a deal with a Qatari investment fund.
A third businessman, Jose Uribe, pleaded guilty March 1 to bribery charges and agreed to testify against the others at trial. Uribe said he conspired with Nadine Menendez and others to provide her with a Mercedes-Benz in return for access to her husband’s power and influence.
Last month, Menendez announced that he wouldn’t pursue re-election as a Democrat, but left the door open to defending his seat as an independent.
In 2017, Menendez dodged a conviction on a different bribery case due to a hung jury and won re-election to the Senate the following year.
Following the unsealing of the indictment in September, Menendez stepped down as the chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee. However, he has attended numerous classified briefings in the interim and defied calls from his fellow Democrats to resign his seat.
Prosecutors say the Menendez’s took more than $150,000 in gold bars, $566,000 in cash payments, a Mercedes-Benz convertible, and other lavish gifts.
