Convicted ex-New Jersey Sen. “Gold Bar Bob’’ Menendez was a no-show for the beginning of his spouse’s bribery trial Monday — regardless that a decide delayed his jail stint so he may “help” her throughout her case.
Nadine Menendez, 58, turned as much as Manhattan federal court docket in a pink breast-cancer-awareness masks and toting an affordable Amazon Prime tote — a far cry from the pricy Chanel bag she delivered to the protection desk for her first look within the case in September 2023.
Jurors on Monday heard how she allegedly teamed up along with her soon-to-be-jailed husband to pocket gold bars, a brand new Mercedes-Benz and different bribes from three Backyard State businessmen.
“They have been companions in crime, companions in corruption, and companions in greed,” prosecutor Lara Pomerantz mentioned in her opening assertion.
A jury convicted Nadine’s disgraced 71-year-old husband in July of taking a whole bunch of hundreds of {dollars} in bribes in alternate for assist getting state prosecutors to drop a prison probe, convincing lawmakers to unfreeze $300 million in army assist for Egypt and different favors.
The pilloried pol, the once-longtime head of the highly effective Senate International Relations Committee, was additionally discovered responsible of appearing as a international agent for Egypt, turning into the the primary US senator ever to be convicted of that crime.
He’s set to report back to jail June 6 to serve an 11-year-sentence.
Bob Menendez’s legal professionals efficiently lobbied Decide Sidney Stein to push again when he must report back to a federal lockup till after Nadine’s trial, which was postponed after she was identified with breast most cancers.
Bob Menendez must be current in Nadine’s life “all through the trial for his spouse’s emotional and bodily help,” his lawyer wrote in a December letter.
The letter didn’t particularly say whether or not that help would come with attending Nadine’s trial in individual.
However through the onetime lawmaker’s sentencing listening to, Decide Stein mentioned, “I’m going to need to have him capable of be current for Mrs. Menendez’s trial.
“I do need him to have the ability to be current to help his spouse throughout that interval,” the decide mentioned.
However Bob Menendez was nowhere to be present in court docket throughout Monday morning’s opening statements and equally missed the beginning of testimony Monday afternoon.
Jurors heard from an FBI agent who found a trove of gold bars and greater than $400,000 in money stuffed into envelopes — and even a pair of Timberland work boots — throughout a 2022 raid of the Menendezes’ house.
Bob Menendez’s lawyer declined to remark to The Put up on his court docket absence Monday.
One doable rationalization for the ex-senator’s absence might be that Nadine’s lawyer, Barry Coburn, is contemplating calling him as a protection witness. Witnesses are sometimes excluded from attending trials till they’re referred to as to the stand.
However it might probably not violate court docket guidelines for Menendez to nonetheless accompany his spouse no less than to and from the courtroom after which look ahead to her in an space such because the hallway or the courthouse’s cafeteria.
Coburn was required to offer prosecutors a listing of doable protection witnesses earlier than the trial, however a duplicate of that checklist has not been made public.
Nadine has pleaded not responsible to the fees she faces, and her lawyer argued Monday that the feds won’t show that she had the required “information” or “intent” to commit her alleged crimes.
Bob Menendez infamously tried to shift blame towards Nadine throughout opening statements at his personal trial — together with his lawyer overtly claiming that his spouse “sidelined” him from interactions with businessmen and convicted felons Wael Hana, Fred Daibes and Jose Uribe.
However he referred to as himself “a husband who dearly loves his spouse” throughout his January sentencing listening to.
“I need to see her pain-free, blissful once more, and hope to return to a joyful future collectively,” he advised the court docket.
Breaking down in tears that day, Menendez referred to as himself a “chastened” man when talking to the decide.
However his tone dramatically shifted to indignance minutes in a while the sidewalk, the place he claimed that the case was politically motivated — regardless of the actual fact he’s a Democrat and the fees have been introduced by a Democrat-led Division of Justice below former President Joe Biden.
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