NEW YORK (AP) – Sen. Bob Menéndez May seek exoneration at his bribery trial in May, blaming his wife, saying she kept him in the dark about anything that might be illegal in his dealings with New Jersey businessmen, according to court documents unsealed Tuesday.
Several rulings filed in January by the Democrat’s lawyers were unsealed in Manhattan federal court after some news organizations insisted that public disclosure was necessary. Menendez’s lawyers wrote the documents, claiming the sentences revealed a trial strategy that could influence the jury.
According to the excerpts that have been unsealed, Menendez plans to testify about what he believes are defense communications with his wife, Nadine, if he decides to testify in his defense.
“While these explanations, and the marital communications on which they are based, tend to exonerate Senator Menendez by demonstrating the absence of any improper intent on the part of Senator Menendez, they may exonerate Nadine by demonstrating the ways in which she withheld information from Senator Menendez or otherwise led him to believe that nothing illegal was happening,” the lawyers wrote.
In trying to halt the trials of the senator and his wife, the lawyers said they planned to assert at trial that Senator Menéndez did not have the knowledge necessary to commit a crime and did not agree with any of the conspiracies described in the indictment against him. .
With this trial strategy, lawyers said they may have to argue, in effect, that any crimes involved the actions of third parties, including his wife, and not the senator. They added, however, that they were not aware of any illegal conduct.
Although the motion to halt the trials was initially denied, Judge Sidney H. Stein has since ruled that they can take place separately after it was revealed that Nadine Menendez will require surgery within the next six weeks. Her trial is postponed until at least July.
The Menendezes and two businessmen have pleaded not guilty to charges of participating in a bribery scheme in which prosecutors say money and gold bars they were given to the couple in exchange for political favors from the senator. Bob Menendez chaired the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee until he stepped down in September over the allegations.
A third businessman, José Uribe, pleaded guilty to bribery charges and agreed to testify against the others at trial. Uribe said she conspired with Nadine Menéndez and others to provide her with a Mercedes-Benz in exchange for access to her husband’s power and influence.
According to the indictment, the Menendezes accepted bribes to help a businessman secure a lucrative meat certification deal with Egypt and another associate secure a deal with a Qatari investment fund.
The redacted passages in the March filing were revealed after media organizations led by NBCUniversal Media and including the Associated Press argued that the public’s right to access the documents overrode any concerns from Menendez’s lawyers.
