Nadine Menendez’s trial delayed indefinitely

The federal judge overseeing Sen. Bob Menendez’s bribery trial has indefinitely delayed the trial for the New Jersey Democrat’s wife, Nadine Menendez, who was charged alongside her husband but is set to face a separate jury due to her treatment for cancer.

“The trial of this matter is adjourned sine die,” U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein wrote in a terse order Monday, using a Latin term for without a date.

The Hill requested comment from Nadine Menendez’s attorney.

Meanwhile, Menendez and two New Jersey businessmen await their fate as a jury deliberates whether they traded luxurious bribes for the senator’s political clout. The second full day of deliberations for the jury of 12 New Yorkers began Tuesday morning.

Though federal prosecutors contended Menendez “put his power up for sale,” citing his influential post on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, defense attorneys said the government did not “come close” to proving the senator accepted bribes.

The three-term Democrat stepped away from leading the committee after he was first indicted last year, in line with Democratic Conference rules, but has maintained his innocence and refused calls to resign. Instead, he is mounting his reelection bid as an independent.

Federal prosecutors say Menendez and his wife, Nadine, agreed to and accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes — paid in the form of cash, gold, a Mercedes-Benz convertible and other lavish gifts — in exchange for the senator’s clout, which prosecutors said enriched the businessmen and Egypt. 

Nadine Menendez’s case was severed from the others after telling the court she would undergo a surgical procedure for breast cancer. Her trial was scheduled for August, and she has pleaded not guilty.