A high-profile Democratic senator under investigation for bribery is expected, according to his lawyers, to blame his actions in part on the “traumatic” death of his father nearly 50 years ago.
Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., was indicted in September for using his influence as a lawmaker to grant favors to several businessmen and the governments of Qatar and Egypt.
A raid on the senator’s home in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, uncovered approximately $500,000 in cash stashed in clothing, closets and a safe, 13 gold bars and a luxury Mercedes-Benz convertible.
Now the Democrat’s lawyers are devising a plan to portray Menendez as a compulsive cash drawer whose fear of going without stems from “traumatic experiences in his past related to cash and finances.”
Menendez’s legal team is even asking a psychologist – Karen B. Rosenbaum – to testify that the Democrat “experienced trauma when his father, a gambling addict, committed suicide after Senator Menendez finally decided to stop paying off his gambling debts.” his father.’
Menendez’s lawyers are willing to cite his childhood trauma and family history of seized property in Cuba as reasons why he habitually took money out of his accounts
Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., and his wife Nadine are both facing charges in the case
The 70-year-old embattled Democrat and his wife Nadine are accused of taking bribes of cash, gold bars and a luxury car over the past five years to grant favors to three businessmen.
During a search, cash was found in jackets bearing the senator’s name
Menendez and his wife Nadine have pleaded not guilty to the alleged bribery scheme.
Menendez’s attorneys wrote a summary of Rosenbaum’s findings that the Democrat has a “fear of scarcity,” which resulted in a “long-standing coping mechanism of routinely withdrawing and storing cash in his home.”
The senator’s family history in Cuba, where property was seized, also contributed to his ATM use, his lawyers wrote to the court.
And Menendez has even admitted as much.
“For 30 years, I have withdrawn thousands of dollars in cash from my personal savings account, which I have kept for emergencies, and because of my family’s history of facing foreclosure in Cuba,” he said in September.
“This may seem old fashioned, but these were funds taken from my personal savings account based on the income I lawfully received over those thirty years.”
But the move to allow Rosenbaum to testify about the Democrat’s trauma has been pushed back by federal prosecutors.
They argue that the psychologist’s testimony may not be scientifically based and is an attempt to gain sympathy from jurors.
Prosecutors wrote that the testimony would “generate sympathy based on his family background, under the guise of expert testimony.”
Federal prosecutors also told the judge that the psychologist’s conclusion “does not appear to be the product of any reliable scientific principle or method.”
Additionally, Rosenbaum’s testimony could give jurors a way to hear about Menendez’s family history without forcing him to take a stand, thus leaving him open to cross-examination.
Damian Williams, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, speaks about charging Menendez and his wife Nadine with bribery crimes in connection with their corrupt relationship with three New Jersey businessmen
Menendez held the high position of chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He resigned during the trial because he was also accused of helping people from Qatar and Egypt
Menendez’s wife previously claimed the gold bars were family heirlooms.
According to court documents, a Menendez associate and a jeweler were told by the senator and his wife that the gold came from Nadine’s late mother.
But prosecutors say Nadine told her jeweler a “false cover story” about where the gold came from.
They claim the gold bars come from one of the New Jersey businessmen who is also charged in the bribery scheme.
The track for Menendez is expected to start on May 13.