Washington — Nadine Menendez, the wife of New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez, will not go on trial before August on bribery charges due to her recovery from breast cancer surgery.
On Wednesday during a status hearing, a federal judge postponed her trial date to Aug. 5. It was previously scheduled to begin July 8. Her case was separated from her husband’s because she had to undergo a mastectomy for grade 3 breast cancer.
The New Jersey Democrat revealed his wife’s cancer diagnosis days after his corruption trial began. The senator said in a statement that his wife would need “follow up surgery and possibly radiation treatment.”
In a court filing last week that asked the judge to waive her appearance at Wednesday’s hearing, Nadine Menendez’s attorney said she “recently has had invasive cancer surgery, has medical equipment implanted in her body and is in intense, chronic pain.” The judge granted the request.
The senator and his wife are accused of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from three New Jersey businessmen for political favors. The alleged bribes included cash, gold bars and a Mercedes-Benz convertible. Prosecutors say the couple accepted the lavish gifts in exchange for the senator helping three New Jersey businessmen and the governments of Egypt and Qatar.
Both the senator and his wife have pleaded not guilty.
Though physically absent from her husband’s trial, Nadine Menendez has been a central figure in the case. The senator’s attorneys have tried to shift the blame to his wife, arguing he was unaware of his wife’s financial challenges and dealings with the businessmen. Prosecutors have asserted the senator used his wife as a go-between with the businessmen, being “careful when he was committing crimes.”
The senator’s trial began May 13.