Sen. Menendez reveals in corruption trial that his wife has breast cancer | Wilnesh News

Nadine Menendez, the wife and co-defendant of Sen. Robert Menendez, has been diagnosed with breast cancer, Democratic lawmakers revealed Thursday in his trial on federal corruption charges.

“Due to constant media inquiries and reporters stalking my wife, she has asked me to disclose her health condition,” Menendez, New Jersey’s senior senator, said in a statement shared by his office to NBC News.

“Nadine has grade III breast cancer, which will require her to have a mastectomy. We are certainly concerned about the severity and advanced stages of this disease,” Menendez said.

“She will need follow-up surgery and possibly radiation therapy. We hope and pray for the best,” he said. “We ask the media and the public to give her the time, space and privacy to deal with this challenging health condition while she undergoes surgery and recovers.”

Menendez shared health information about his wife less than a day after his defense attorneys blamed her during the senator’s trial in Manhattan federal court.

Menendez and his wife are both accused of a years-long conspiracy that pocketed hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of gold bars, piles of cash and a host of other bribes in exchange for political favors.

In April, a judge separated Nadine Menendez’s trial from her husband’s and postponed it until at least July because her lawyers cited health issues that were not disclosed at the time. The trial begins Monday for Menendez and two New Jersey businessmen, Val Harner and Fred DeBise.

Defense attorney Avi Weitzman told the 12-person jury in opening statements Wednesday afternoon that Menendez knew nothing about his wife’s financial problems and was “avoiding” her financial woes.

He said Nadine Menendez “hid financial problems from Bob.”

Weitzman said the gold bars discovered when the FBI searched Menendez’s home — “the elephant in the room” — were found “in Nadine’s closet.”

Attorneys advised jurors that every time they hear evidence about Nadine Menendez, they should ask themselves: “What did Bob know?”

He even showed off a picture that showed “Where’s Waldo?” The book—revised as “Where’s Bob?”—emphasizes this point.

Weitzman said Menendez “did not take bribes,” while insisting that his alleged corruption was actually just part of his job as a senator.

“Every action Senator Menendez takes is to help his constituents,” he said.

Minutes earlier, U.S. Attorney Laura Pomerantz told the jury that Menendez “sold his power” and “used his wife as a middleman.”

Menendez, 70, said in her opening statement that she was “in a state of bribery” and “motivated by greed.”

“This is not ordinary politics,” Pomerantz said. “This is politics for profit.”