{"id":27740,"date":"2024-05-17T06:04:42","date_gmt":"2024-05-17T10:04:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/?p=27740"},"modified":"2024-05-17T06:04:42","modified_gmt":"2024-05-17T10:04:42","slug":"us-senator-bob-menendez-reveals-wifes-breast-cancer-amid-corruption-trial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/2024\/05\/17\/us-senator-bob-menendez-reveals-wifes-breast-cancer-amid-corruption-trial\/","title":{"rendered":"US Senator Bob Menendez reveals wife&#8217;s breast cancer amid corruption trial"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\"><b class=\"ssrcss-1xjjfut-BoldText e5tfeyi3\">US Senator Bob Menendez has revealed that his wife has breast cancer, a day after his lawyers sought to blame her as he goes on trial for corruption.<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">He is accused of accepting bribes, including gold bars, in exchange for helping three New Jersey businessmen and the governments of Egypt and Qatar.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The 70-year-old&#8217;s wife, Nadine Menendez, is a co-defendant, though she will be tried separately.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Both deny the charges, which threaten to destroy his career.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Mr Menendez said in a statement on Thursday that his 57-year-old wife would undergo a mastectomy following her diagnosis with Grade 3 breast cancer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">He said Mrs Menendez, whom he wed in 2020, had asked him to disclose her medical condition due to &#8220;constant press inquires and reporters following [her]&#8221;.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-1o5f7ft-BulletListContainer e5tfeyi0\">\n<ul role=\"list\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\"><a class=\"ssrcss-f6h2dj-InlineLink e1kn3p7n0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/world-us-canada-68992292\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The bribery trial against Bob Menendez, explained<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8220;We are of course, concerned about the seriousness and advanced stage of the disease,&#8221; the senator added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">His disclosure came as jurors in his corruption case heard on Thursday from an FBI agent who testified that he had to call reinforcements to count all the cash found in a raid on the Menendez home in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">In total, FBI agent Aristotelis Kougemitros said they seized over $486,000 (\u00a3383,000) in cash that had been stuffed in different items around the house, including a Burberry bag, a brown paper bag, a yellow plastic bag, five jackets, a small black duffle bag and Timberland boots.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_27741\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-27741\" style=\"width: 525px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Bob-Menendez-outside-court.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-27741\" src=\"http:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Bob-Menendez-outside-court.jpg\" alt=\"Bob Menendez outside court\" width=\"525\" height=\"360\" srcset=\"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Bob-Menendez-outside-court.jpg 525w, https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Bob-Menendez-outside-court-300x206.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 525px) 100vw, 525px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-27741\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bob Menendez has sought to shift blame for his alleged bribe-taking to his wife<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8220;The sheer volume of bills that we encountered, which you can see in some of the photographs, was too much to count by hand,&#8221; Mr Kougemitros told the court.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The FBI also seized 11 mini-gold bars weighing 1oz, along with two 1kg gold bars. They were passed round to the jury.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">In opening statements, prosecutors said Mr Menendez, who has been a senator since 2006, had &#8220;betrayed the people he was supposed to serve for bribes&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">They alleged that the cash and gold bars found in his home were gifted to him by Egyptian officials for political favours in Washington.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Prosecutor Lara Pomerantz also accused Mr Menendez of receiving a Mercedes-Benz in exchange for interfering with a criminal case involving Egyptian-American businessman Wael Hana, who is a co-defendant in the case.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Mrs Menendez is accused of being the go-between in these bribes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Avi Weitzman, a lawyer for Mr Menendez, maintained his client took no bribes and did not violate the law. He added that some of the gold bars belonged to Mrs Menendez.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">During opening statements on Wednesday, Mr Weitzman sought to shift fault to the senator&#8217;s wife, saying she had &#8220;kept him in the dark&#8221; on financial matters, and that the couple had separate bank accounts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Lawyers for the other co-defendants in the case, Mr Hana and New Jersey real estate developer Fred Daibes &#8211; who is accused of giving cash and gold bars to Mr Menendez &#8211; told the court that their clients are long-time close friends of Mrs Menendez, and that they often traded gifts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8220;Don&#8217;t let them say that every gift is a bribe,&#8221; said Lawrence Lustberg, a lawyer for Mr Hana.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Mr Menendez was the top-ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for more than five years, which gave him sway over US foreign policy. He was removed as chairman after he was charged.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">He has been charged with 16 felony counts, including bribery, extortion, wire fraud, obstruction of justice and acting as a foreign agent, and faces prison time if convicted.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Mrs Menendez is due to be tried in July on bribery and corruption charges.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">In 2017, Mr Menendez went on trial for criminally accepting favours from a Florida doctor, but that ended in a mistrial.<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/world-us-canada-69024893\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\">US Senator Bob Menendez has revealed that his wife has breast cancer, a day after his lawyers sought to blame her as he goes on trial for corruption. He is accused of accepting bribes, including <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/2024\/05\/17\/us-senator-bob-menendez-reveals-wifes-breast-cancer-amid-corruption-trial\/\" title=\"US Senator Bob Menendez reveals wife&#8217;s breast cancer amid corruption trial\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27742,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[9748,10365,948,7611,9816,556],"class_list":{"0":"post-27740","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"category-usa","9":"tag-bob-menendez","10":"tag-breast-cancer","11":"tag-corruption","12":"tag-manhattan-federal-court","13":"tag-nadine-menendez","14":"tag-new-jersey","15":"pmpro-has-access"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27740","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27740"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27740\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27744,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27740\/revisions\/27744"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27742"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27740"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}