NEW YORK, May 16, (AP): A lawyer for US Sen Bob Menendez blamed the politician’s wife Wednesday for his legal problems, telling a jury at the start of a corruption trial that the Democrat wasn’t aware his spouse had taken gifts from a trio of businessmen and didn't know about cash and gold bars hidden in a closet at their New Jersey home.
"She kept him in the dark about what she was asking others to give her,” defense lawyer Avi Weitzman said, portraying it as a desperate search for funds from relatives and friends. "She wasn’t going to let Bob know that she had financial problems.”
Jurors began hearing opening statements Wednesday in a trial in which Menendez is accused of accepting lavish bribes in exchange for a variety of corrupt favors, including taking actions as a senator that benefited the government of Egypt.
Prosecutors portrayed Menendez as someone who had betrayed his country.
Assistant US Attorney Lara Pomerantz told the jury the senator’s wife, Nadine Menendez, did play a central role in her husband’s corruption, but said he hid behind her while using her as a conduit to the businessmen who delivered bribes.
"He was careful not to send too many texts,” she said. "He used Nadine as his go-between to deliver messages to and from the people paying bribes.”