Judge Rules To Sever Menendez Corruption Trials

(PatriotPostNews.com) – A Democratic senator from New Jersey will have a separate trial from his wife as they are both charged with corruption.

According to United States District Judge Sidney Stein, the couple will be tried separately on account of the wife’s medical issues. Both Sen. Bob Menendez and his spouse, Nadine, are facing charges of bribery, obstruction and acting as a foreign agent.

Nadine brought up the medical concern on April 10, at which point her legal team requested the May 6 trial be adjourned due to what was described as a “serious medical condition.” The specific diagnosis was not revealed. Prosecutors in the case resisted the idea due to the fact that multiple charges against Nadine coincide with the indictment against her husband.

However, the motion for Menendez’s wife to have a separate trial was also motivated by the argument that her rights would be compromised in a joint trial. The permitted severance pointed to the Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure, which allows such cases to be separated if there is “serious risk” the joint trial would infringe upon the rights of a defendant or hinder the jury’s ability to make “a reliable judgment” in the case.

According to Nadine’s attorneys, her husband is able to testify in his own trial, opening the door for the revelation of “confidential marital communications” between the couple that would violate her “right to assert,” a right which their client was not willing to rescind.

Sen. Menendez and Nadine have both been indicted on three charges of bribery. He received an additional charge of conspiracy to act as a foreign agent for a public official. According to prosecutors, the husband and wife raked in hundreds of thousands of dollars through bribes that were paid in various ways, including mortgage payments and cash.

While both deny the charges against them, a search conducted by federal agents in 2022 uncovered a cash amount of almost $500,000 in envelopes with fingerprints of a known business contact alleged to have taken bribes from the senator.