Corruption trial for Nadine Menendez, wife of Sen. Bob Menendez, postponed indefinitely

The corruption trial for Nadine Menendez, the wife of New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez (D), has been postponed indefinitely due to her health issues. 

Nadine Menendez and her husband are accused of aiding the foreign governments of Egypt and Qatar in exchange for cash, luxury cars and gold bars. Her trial initially had been postponed until August, because she had a mastectomy for breast cancer. On Monday, Judge Sidney Sine ordered the trial adjourned until further notice, CBS News reported. 

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Bob Menendez’s trial began in May, and the jury is in deliberations. The senator’s lawyer’s have argued that Nadine accepted bribes from real estate developer Fred Daibes and businessmen Wael Hana and Jose Uribe without his knowledge. 

Bob Menendez revealed Nadine’s diagnosis in a statement on May 16 – shortly after his trial began – but the jury in his case has not been notified of her health issues. 

Bob Menendez is accused of sharing information about staffing at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo and ghostwriting a letter from an Egyptian official to U.S. politicians about human rights issues. He also allegedly helped strike a $45 million real estate deal between Daibes, who also is facing charges, and a member of the Qatari royal family by making public statements in support Qatar. 

Prosecutors say the bribery scheme began in 2018, when Bob and Nadine Menendez began dating. Bob’s defense lawyer argued that they lived separately until April 2020, had separate finances and led largely separate lives. The gold bars were found in Nadine’s locked closet. 

Menendez previously faced public corruption charges for allegedly accepting bribes from an eye doctor in Florida. The 2017 trial ended in a hung jury.

Despite his ongoing trial, Menendez has filed to seek reelection by running as an independent.