The judge presiding over Sen. Bob Menendez’s bribery trial has indefinitely postponed the trial of the New Jersey Democrat’s wife, Nadine Menendez, a co-defendant in the case who is currently undergoing treatment for cancer, court records showed Tuesday.
“The trial in this case is adjourned indefinitely,” U.S. District Judge Sidney H. Stein wrote in a brief decision he signed Monday, using Latin and legal terms that mean undated.
Barry Coburn, an attorney for Nadine Menendez, declined to comment on the postponement of her trial, which was postponed last year after she was diagnosed with breast cancer after she and her husband were charged with accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of gold bars and cash from three New Jersey businessmen in exchange for political favors.
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After the judge ordered an indefinite postponement of her trial, a jury returned a guilty verdict against the senator on all charges in the case on Tuesday afternoon. He is scheduled to be sentenced in October.
Menendez released a statement about his wife’s condition in May, saying, “Nadine has grade 3 breast cancer and will require a mastectomy. She is understandably concerned about the severity and progression of her disease.”
“His top priority is his wife’s health, and he is pleased that she is being given the time she needs to focus on her treatment and recovery,” attorneys Adam Fee and Avi Weitzman said in a statement Tuesday.
Nadine Menendez’s lawyers wrote in June court documents that she “has medical devices implanted in her body and suffers from severe, chronic pain.”
He added at the time, “We ask that the media and the public give her the time, space and privacy to deal with this difficult health condition while she undergoes surgery and recovers.”
The trial of her husband and two other co-defendants began in May, and the jury began deliberating the case on Friday. The couple, who began dating in 2018 and married in 2020, have both pleaded not guilty.