Sen. Bob Menendez Reveals Wife Has Breast Cancer As Bribery Trial Begins

NEW YORK (AP) — Sen. Bob Menendez said Thursday that his wife has breast cancer and will require a mastectomy, a revelation made just as the presentation of evidence began at his New York bribery trial.

The New Jersey Democrat said he was revealing his wife’s health crisis at her request after repeated inquiries from the media.

“We are, of course, concerned about the seriousness and advanced stage of the disease,” the senator said in a statement.

He added: “She will require follow up surgery and possibly radiation treatment. We hope and pray for the best results.”

Previously, lawyers for Nadine Menendez had requested her trial on charges in the case be delayed after she had been diagnosed with a serious health issue. Judge Sidney H. Stein had postponed her trial until at least July. She has pleaded not guilty. The couple began dating in 2018 and married two years later.

Menendez issued the statement in an email as opening statements were completed and the presentation of evidence began at his trial in Manhattan federal court with testimony from an FBI agent who led the raid on the Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, home he shared with his wife.

The agent, Aristotelis Kougemitros, described the June 2022 raid when gold bars and more than $400,000 in cash were discovered by a team of agents at the home.

He said the agents also recovered cellphones and jewelry among 52 items seized from the home.

The senator is on trial this week with two of three businessmen who have been charged along with him. The senator has pleaded not guilty to charges of bribery, fraud, extortion, obstruction of justice and acting as a foreign agent of Egypt. A third businessman has pleaded guilty in the case and will testify against the others.

Lawyers