Judge severs Menendez bribery case, ordering separate trials for NJ senator, wife

A trial judge has decided to sever the corruption case of New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez and his wife Nadine, meaning there will be two separate trials and he'll go first. 

Thursday's ruling comes two days after Nadine Menendez's attorneys had requested a two-month delay in what was supposed to be a joint trial with her husband to give her time to deal with medical issues.

Neither the senator nor Nadine Menendez had to attend court on Thursday.

In their request to Judge Sidney Stein, Menendez's attorneys did not reveal specifics of her medical condition. They did say it would require surgery and "possibly significant recovery" time. In court on Thursday, they said she needs more time to undergo testing to understand the nature of the condition.

Stein said Thursday that Nadine Menendez’s illness and the lack of clarity as to when she will be well enough to proceed is one reason he opted to sever the case.

He also severed the case because Nadine Menendez needs new lawyers, as her current lawyers are apparently conflicted and need to step aside. Her lawyers may be witnesses to the obstruction count. She has 30 days to find new ones.

Prosecutors had wanted to postpone the start of the trial until July or August. They argued “serious inefficiencies and unfairness” would result if Bob and Nadine Menendez, who were charged with committing crimes together, were tried separately. Prosecutors also said dozens of witnesses would have to be recalled, including at least one government official stationed abroad, and many lay witnesses who live outside New York and are concerned about testifying.

“We’re ready to try this case. We want to try this case," Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Richenthal said in court. "We don’t want to try this case twice.”

They did note, in their letter to the judge, however, that "a time may come" when public interest in moving the case expeditiously to trial supercedes those concerns.

“This trial is going forward without Mrs. Menendez” in order to “give some stability and certainty to all parties,” Stein said. “The government is going to have to try this case two times.”

Stein on Thursday also denied motions to dismiss the case outright and to transfer the trial, which is expected to last four to six weeks, to New Jersey.

The bribery trial for Bob Menendez is still scheduled to start May 6 in Manhattan federal court. A lawyer for the senator urged the judge not to hold up his client’s day in court over the issue, saying the allegations are a “specter” hanging over the former chair of the powerful Senate Committee on Foreign Relations that “effectively removes his ability to run” for reelection this year.

“Senator Menendez wants his May 6 trial date,” Adam Fee said. “We are asserting our speedy trial rights.”

A tentative separate trial date for Nadine Menendez is scheduled for July 8. Two businessmen are also on trial.

All have pleaded not guilty to charges that they participated in a bribery scheme in which prosecutors say cash and gold bars were given to the couple in return for favors that the senator could carry out. Defense attorneys have said the money the senator and his wife got was a loan, not a bribe.

Prosecutors allege that in return for the bribes, Menendez helped one of the businessmen get a lucrative meat-certification deal with Egypt. Menendez helped another associate get a deal with a Qatari investment fund, an indictment alleges.

A fifth defendant, Jose Uribe, pleaded guilty to bribery charges last month and will be sentenced in June. Uribe said he conspired with Nadine Menendez and others to provide her with a Mercedes-Benz in return for access to her husband's power and influence.

Uribe has said the loan story was allegedly a lie, a cover story that Nadine Menendez's attorneys were witnesses to.

Bob Menendez chaired the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee until he stepped down from the role in September because of the allegations.