Bob Menendez and wife seek to sever corruption trials

Senator Bob Menendez and his wife are seeking separate corruption trials, according to a court document.

Mr Menendez, a Democrat from New Jersey, and his wife, Nadine Menendez, were charged in September with allegedly accepting gifts including cash, gold bars and a luxury car in exchange for the use of the senator’s influence to enrich three New Jersey businessmen and benefit the Egyptian government.

Prosecutors said businessman Wael Hana had arranged meetings between Mr Menendez and Egyptian officials, who pressed the senator to sign off on military aid.

In return, Mr Hana put Mr Menendez’s wife on the payroll of a company he controlled, prosecutors said.

The senator and his wife were also accused of attempting to “cover up” the bribery scheme, as well as trying to repay more than $20,000 worth of bribe money under the guise of loans. The couple allegedly used the money to pay for a Mercedes-Benz and home mortgage payments.

Mr Menendez, his wife and the businessmen have pleaded not guilty to the charges.

In court documents, lawyers for Mr Menendez asked that he and his wife go on trial separately because he “intends to present a defence arguing (in part) that he lacked the requisite knowledge of much of the conduct and statements of his wife, Nadine.”

Bob Menendez and his wife are seeking separate corruption trials

“By this defense, Senator Menendez’s legal team may have to argue, in effect, that any unlawful conduct — and we are aware of none —involved the actions of others (including Nadine), not the Senator,” his lawyers wrote.

They argued the senator would face a “catch-22” situation if he was forced to go on trial alongside his wife because a joint trial would “force Senator Menendez to make an impossible and