Menendez, wife seek separate trials

Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and his wife are seeking separate trials in New York federal court in the bribery case brought against the couple.

The senator, along with his wife, Nadine, were indicted last September on allegations that they accepted more than $600,000 in bribes from a group of three New Jersey businessmen on behalf of Egyptian government interests.

The couple and the businessmen have pleaded not guilty to the charges. 

The Monday fillings explain how the senator’s defense strategy could force him to provide testimony that undermines his wife’s defense, essentially breaking the marital privilege generally afforded to spouses.

In a motion to sever the trials from each other, Sen. Menendez’s lawyer said he “intends to present a defense arguing (in part) that he lacked the requisite knowledge of much of the conduct and statements of his wife, Nadine, and thus lacks scienter and did not agree to join any of the charged conspiracies,” according to the Monday filling. 

His legal team argued that the senator would face a near-impossible choice, testify against his wife or defend himself.

“The now-planned joint trial of Senator Menendez and his wife, Nadine Menendez (“Nadine”), threatens the Senator’s right to a fair trial by, among other things, forcing him to choose between two fundamental rights: his right to testify in his own defense and his right not to testify against his spouse.”

“By this defense, Senator Menendez’s legal team may have to argue, in effect, that any unlawful conduct—and we are aware of none—involved the actions of others (including Nadine), not the Senator,” his lawyers wrote. 

Previously, the New Jersey senator and his legal team argued that the charges should be dismissed, partly on constitutional grounds, 

Adding to his legal woes, Menendez, who temporarily stepped down as chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee after the September indictment, was accused earlier this month of accepting gifts from the Qatari government and assisting a real estate developer to accumulate millions in investments from the Gulf country.

The federal judge overseeing the federal case against Menendez, his wife Nadine and the three businessmen has set a trail date for May 6.