Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) is set to go on trial on May 6 on bribery-related charges.
He will not be tried alongside his wife, Nadine Menendez, whose trial date has yet to be scheduled.
U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein made the determinations on April 11.
“The court will have to try this case twice,” the judge said, in response to Ms. Menendez’s attorneys’ request that her trial be delayed, citing an unspecified health problem.
The couple has been charged with conspiracy to commit bribery, bribery, conspiracy to commit honest wire fraud, conspiracy to commit extortion, extortion, conspiracy for a public official to act as a foreign agent, conspiracy to obstruct justice, and obstruction of justice.
There have been three indictments against them.
In the first indictment, the couple allegedly took bribes from three supporters—Fred Daibes, Wael Hana, and Jose Uribe—in exchange for favorable treatment surrounding the government of Egypt, whose human rights record, like Qatar’s, has come under fire.
It alleges that the gifts included gold bars, home mortgage payments, and a fancy car.
Mr. Menendez also allegedly pressured the New Jersey attorney general’s office in relation to a prosecution against Mr. Uribe, who pleaded guilty in 2011 to a charge of third-degree theft by deception and was sentenced to three years probation.
Additionally, prosecutors allege that Mr. Menendez promised to ask President Donald Trump to appoint a U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey to interfere in the prosecution of Mr. Daibes on fraud and other financial-related charges.
Mr. Daibes pleaded guilty to the charges in 2018 but withdrew the plea, and his trial has been postponed.
In the second indictment, prosecutors allege that Mr. Menendez, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and chairman until his initial indictment in September 2023, “used his influence and power” and violated his duty when he introduced Mr. Daibes, a businessman developer, to a potential Qatari investor.
The third indictment alleges that Mr. and Ms. Menendez attempted to conceal their alleged bribery scheme.
The most recent allegations claim that Mr. Menendez and his wife caused their then-attorneys to provide false representations about the payments to the prosecution, allegedly telling them that their client had until 2022 been unaware of the money given by Mr. Hana for the mortgage on his wife’s New Jersey home and the money paid by Mr. Uribe toward her Mercedes-Benz.
The latest indictment was filed on March 5.
On March 8, Mr. Uribe announced that he would plead guilty to counts of conspiracy to commit bribery, attempt and conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to obstruct justice, attempted tax evasion, and obstructing justice by making false and misleading statements to federal investigators.
He also agreed to testify against the others at the previously determined May 6 trial.
In a statement, Mr. Menendez said, “[Prosecutors have] long known that I learned of and helped repay loans—not bribes—that had been provided to my wife.”
Mr. Daibes and Mr. Hana also pleaded not guilty on March 11.
Mr. Menendez has not ruled out a reelection run. He has said he will run if he is acquitted, although he would not be able to run as a Democrat as the deadline to file to do so has passed.
He faced corruption-related charges in 2015, but there was a mistrial and federal prosecutors declined to file the charges again.
Mr. Menendez’s fellow senators, including his fellow Democrats, have called on him to resign.
“A jury of his peers will make the ultimate decision as to whether he is criminally guilty,” Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) said.
“There is, however, another higher standard for public officials, one not of criminal law but of common ideals.”
