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Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., is anticipated to blame his wife during his federal corruption trial as a part of a protection technique, newly-unsealed court paperwork reveal.
In court paperwork obtained by Fox News Digital, attorneys for Sen. Menendez argued for his case to be severed due to his intention to introduce proof that may indicate his wife, Nadine, is responsible. Severing a case implies that the co-defendants could be tried individually in two trials, fairly than in a single as a pair.
The couple have each pleaded not responsible to bribery and obstruction of justice costs. They are accused of accepting a whole bunch of hundreds of {dollars} in bribes within the type of money, gold bars and a Mercedes-Benz, for the good thing about numerous enterprise individuals and the Egyptian authorities.
Nadine’s case was already severed by the point the paperwork, which had been filed in January, got here to mild on Tuesday, however the paperwork trace at what proof may come to mild on the trial.
SEN MENENDEZ CHARGED WITH OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE IN ANOTHER SUPERSEDING INDICTMENT
In the court submitting, attorneys indicate that the Democratic senator will introduce proof displaying he was unaware of the allegedly unlawful actions. The attorneys say Menendez may testify about communications with his wife that might exonerate him however may implicate Nadine, who allegedly withheld info from her husband.
“At trial, as part of his defense, Senator Menendez may elect to testify to communications with his wife that serve to materially decrease any inference of culpability on Senator Menendez’s part,” the doc states.
“Senator Menendez will explain, for example, what he and his wife discussed contemporaneously with their dinners with Egyptian officials (which colored his understanding of the purpose of such dinners); the explanations that Nadine provided for why [co-defendants Wael Hanna and Jose Uribe] had provided her certain monetary items; the reasons why he sent his wife a series of questions that other Senators purportedly intended to ask an Egyptian official; and many more topics.”
“They may inculpate Nadine by demonstrating the ways in which she withheld information from Senator Menendez or otherwise led him to believe that nothing unlawful was taking place,” the paperwork added.
The bribes, which had been allegedly given to the couple by New Jersey businessmen Wael Hana and Fred Daibes, in change for Menendez’s energy and affect. The senator and his wife are additionally accused of receiving items from Jose Uribe, who pleaded responsible to bribery costs in March.
Earlier in April, Nadine Menendez’s attorneys requested to postpone her trial after an “unexpected medical development” arose. She was recognized with a “serious medical condition” on Apr. 9, her attorneys stated.
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The senator’s trial is scheduled to start on May 6, whereas his wife’s is deliberate for July 8.
Fox News Digital’s Pilar Arias and Jamie Joseph contributed to this report.
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