Her husband may be threatening to ruin her in her bribery trial.
But daily life seemed to continue as normal for Nadine Menendez on Wednesday when she was spotted gardening at her New Jersey home.
DailyMail.com captured the wife of scandal-hit Democratic Senator Bob outside the house tending to plants and wearing yellow Marigold gloves.
The 57-year-old also took out the trash, dressed in sweatpants and heels, and at one point used an empty Coca-Cola Zero box to hide her face from the cameras.
She was discovered hours after explosive court documents were published suggesting her 70-year-old husband could blame her for the widespread corruption scandal involving gold bars, piles of cash and favors for the Egyptian government.
The New Jersey senator and his wife are accused of receiving lavish gifts, including luxury cars and wads of money, as part of a bribery plot to help the Egyptian government and businessmen facing their own criminal investigations.
Nandine Menendez gardens at her New Jersey home, hours after court documents were released suggesting her husband, Democratic Sen. Bob, could blame her for his alleged bribery scheme.
DailyMail.com captured scandal-hit Democratic Senator Bob’s wife outside the house tending to plants while wearing yellow Marigold gloves.
Parts of a court filing filed by the Democrat’s lawyers were unsealed in Manhattan federal court on Tuesday after some news organizations insisted that public disclosure was required.
Bob Menendez’s lawyers had redacted the documents, arguing that the sentences revealed a trial strategy that could bias the jury.
According to the unsealed passages, Menendez plans to testify about what he believes were exculpatory communications with Nadine if he decides to take the stand as a witness in her defense.
‘While these explanations, and the marital communications on which they are based, will tend to exonerate Senator Menendez by demonstrating the absence of any improper intent on the part of Senator Menendez, they may incriminate Nadine by demonstrating the ways in which she withheld information from the Senator. Menendez or otherwise led him to believe that nothing illegal was occurring,” the attorneys wrote.
While seeking to disrupt the trials of the senator and his wife, lawyers said they planned to claim at trial that Senator Menendez lacked the knowledge necessary to commit a crime and did not agree with any of the conspiracies described in the indictment against him. .
The 57-year-old was spotted hours after explosive court documents were released suggesting her husband could throw her under the bus.
The 57-year-old also took out the trash, dressed in sweatpants and heels, and at one point used an empty Coca-Cola Zero box to hide her face from the cameras.
The New Jersey senator and his wife are accused of receiving lavish gifts, including luxury cars and money, as part of a bribery plot to help the Egyptian government and businessmen facing their own criminal investigations.
Nadine Menéndez opens one of the side doors of her house with her yellow gloves
According to the unsealed passages, Menendez plans to testify about what he believes were exculpatory communications with Nadine if he decides to take the stand as a witness in her defense.
Images of the gold bars that federal agents seized in Menéndez’s house during the investigation
Menendez may seek exoneration in his bribery trial in May by blaming his wife Nadine (pictured right). New court documents suggest he will say she kept him in the dark about dealings with New Jersey businessmen.
With such a trial strategy, lawyers said they might have to argue, in effect, that any crime involved the actions of others, including his wife, and not the senator. However, they added that they were not aware of any illegal conduct.
Although the motion to suspend the trials was initially denied, Judge Sidney H. Stein has since ruled that they can be held separately after it was revealed that Nadine Menendez needs surgery in the next six weeks. Her trial is now delayed until at least July.
The Menéndezes and two businessmen have pleaded not guilty to charges of participating in a bribery scheme in which, prosecutors say, cash and gold bars They were given to the couple in exchange for the senator performing political favors.
Menendez has also refused to give up his Senate seat, although he has not run in the Democratic primary to retain the seat this year.
He remains open to running as an independent once the trial is over.
Engagement of Senator Robert and Nadine Menéndez at the Taj Mahal, India
Revelations about the strategy of the man nicknamed ‘Gold Bars Bob’ come from court documents unsealed Tuesday.
FBI agents seized gold bars, $500,000 in cash and the Mercedes during a raid on his home as the investigation began.
Last week, it was revealed that the couple will be tried separately over allegations that they participated in the scheme, a federal judge ruled Thursday.
The New Jersey Democrat’s trial remains scheduled for May 6 in Manhattan federal court, while Nadine Menendez’s trial has been tentatively delayed until July 8.
Bob Menendez chaired the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee until he resigned from that position in September over the allegations.
Prosecutors allege that in exchange for the bribes, Menendez helped one of the businessmen secure a lucrative meat certification deal with Egypt.
Menendez helped another associate secure a deal with a Qatari investment fund, an indictment alleges.
A third businessman, José Uribe, has pleaded guilty to bribery charges and agreed to testify against the others at trial.
Uribe said she conspired with Nadine Menendez and others to provide her with a Mercedes-Benz in exchange for access to her husband’s power and influence.
The senator’s lawyers had claimed that the orders were “riddled with material misrepresentations and omissions that misled the judge who authorized them.”