Wife of former NJ Sen. Bob Menendez goes on trial in New York City

Jury selection starts Tuesday in the federal trial of Nadine Menendez, the wife of former New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez.

A grand jury indicted the couple and three businessmen on bribery charges in September 2023. The U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York accused Bob Menendez, then chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, of trading his political influence for gold bars, wads of cash and a Mercedes-Benz. One businessman pleaded guilty and a jury convicted Bob Menendez and the two others on all counts last summer. A judge sentenced Menendez to 11 years in prison.

Nadine Menendez is being tried separately because she has been undergoing treatment for breast cancer. Bob Menendez said on social media that his wife ”is being forced by the government to go to trial” just days after she underwent breast cancer reconstructive surgery.

“Only the arrogance of the SDNY can be so cruel and inhumane,” he said. “They should let her fully recover.”

Nadine Menendez has pleaded not guilty to bribery and corruption charges.

The former senator has signaled in past statements that he’s appealing to the sympathies of President Donald Trump, whose Justice Department is now pushing for the same federal prosecutor’s office to dismiss corruption charges against Mayor Eric Adams. After his sentencing in January, Menendez called the Southern District of New York “the Wild West of political prosecutions.”

“President Trump was right,” he said. “This process is political and it’s corrupted to the core. I hope President Trump cleans up the cesspool and restores the integrity to the system.”

Menendez did not answer reporters’ questions outside of court about whether he is seeking a pardon. His lawyers are appealing his conviction. Menendez refused to step down from the Senate after his indictment but resigned following his conviction.

Nadine Menendez, formerly Nadine Arslanian, started dating the senator in 2018 and married him in 2020, according to the indictment. NJ.com reported that they met at an IHOP in Union City, New Jersey.

Nadine Menendez plays a central role in the indictment. Prosecutors accused her of introducing Bob Menendez to Egyptian officials who wanted him to help get their government hundreds of millions of dollars in aid in exchange for bribes. Prosecutors also accused her of convincing the senator to help her friend, Wael Hana, secure a monopoly for his halal business.

The U.S. attorney’s office said Hana and another man, Jose Uribe, helped Menendez get a Mercedes after Bob Menendez pressured an official to drop a criminal case against one of Uribe’s business associates.

The indictment is filled with alleged text exchanges between Nadine Menendez, her husband and her co-defendants. In one message, she allegedly texted Bob Menendez to complain that she had not received payments from her bribers.

“I am soooooo upset,” she texted, according to the indictment.

When she asked Bob Menendez whether she should follow up with a message, he replied, “No, you should not text or email.”

After buying a Mercedes-Benz convertible with help from Uribe, she texted him, “I will never forget this,” followed by a photo of the shiny, black luxury car, according to prosecutors.