The move comes after prosecutors told a federal judge they may call one of Nadine Menendez's lawyers as a witness in the case. (Photo by David Dee Delgado/Getty Images)
The attorneys for Sen. Bob Menendez’s wife are seeking to withdraw as her legal team for the couple’s upcoming bribery trial, which is set to begin in four weeks.
Nadine Menendez’s four attorneys filed a motion Friday to withdraw from the case, three weeks after prosecutors told the judge overseeing the case that they may call one of her lawyers, David Schertler, as a witness and enter into evidence materials with which he was involved.
Authorities allege the senator and Nadine Menendez caused their lawyers to provide false information to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York during meetings last year, and that the couple’s attorneys have knowledge of payments the couple made toward a new Mercedes Benz and a mortgage that prosecutors allege were repayments of bribes the couple received.
Those allegations were part of the most recent superseding indictment in the case, which charges the couple with conspiracy and obstruction of justice.
During a March hearing, U.S. District Court Judge Sidney Stein stressed to Nadine Menendez that her attorneys could end up being disqualified from representing her if the court determines that their knowledge of the case presents a conflict of interest.
“That would not be an issue if you had a lawyer not involved in those underlying facts,” Stein told Menendez then.
Friday’s filing — from Schertler and co-counsel Danny Onorato, Mark MacDougall, and Paola Pinto — doesn’t state a reason for the attorneys’ wish to withdraw from the case. They did not respond to a request for comment.
The trial against the senator, his wife, and their two co-defendants, businessmen Wael Hana and Fred Daibes, is set to begin May 6. A fifth person charged in the case, Jose Uribe, agreed last month to plead guilty and cooperate with prosecutors.
The senator is accused of accepting gold bars, cash, and luxury goods in exchange for providing favors for Hana, Daibes, and Uribe. He is also accused of acting as a foreign agent for Egypt and Qatar. He and his wife have maintained their innocence.
The senator announced last month he would not seek the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in June, but said he might run as an independent if he’s acquitted. His current term ends in January.
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