Senator Bob Menendez may seek exoneration in his bribery trial in May by blaming his wife, Nadine, saying she kept him in the dark about anything that might be illegal in his dealings with New Jersey businessmen.
Menendez, 70, and his wife Nadine, 57, have also been charged with obstruction of justice as part of the federal bribery investigation.
The New Jersey senator and his wife are accused of receiving cash, gold bars and luxury cars as part of a bribery plot to help the Egyptian government and help businessmen facing their own criminal investigations.
The revelations about the man nicknamed ‘Gold Bar Bob’ came from court documents revealed on Tuesday.
Several lines from a court filing filed in January by the Democrat’s lawyers were unsealed in Manhattan federal court after some news organizations insisted that public disclosure was required.
Senator Bob Menendez may seek exoneration in his bribery trial in May by blaming his wife Nadine (pictured right), saying she kept him in the dark about anything that might be illegal in his dealings with businessmen from New Jersey.
Revelations about the strategy of the man nicknamed ‘Gold Bars Bob’ come from court documents unsealed Tuesday.
Bob Menendez’s lawyers had redacted the documents, arguing that the sentences revealed a trial strategy that could bias the jury.
According to the excerpts that were revealed, 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. .
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
FBI agents seized gold bars, $500,000 in cash and the Mercedes during a raid on his home as the investigation began.
Images of the gold bars that federal agents seized in Menéndez’s house during the investigation
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.”