Sen. Bob Menendez’s wife cites need for surgery in request to delay her trial

NEW YORK — The wife of New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez is asking for a postponement of her criminal trial next month because a newly diagnosed and serious medical condition requires “surgical intervention” within six weeks.

The request was made by her lawyers in a letter to a federal court judge in Manhattan, who will preside over a May 6 trial against the Democrat, his wife and two New Jersey businessmen.

All four have pleaded not guilty to charges that they participated in a bribery scheme in which prosecutors say cash and gold bars were given to the couple in exchange for favors the senator could perform.

In their letter, Nadine Menendez’s lawyers say their client cannot help them prepare for trial for the next four weeks due to her “medical conditions.”

They wrote that she had recently been diagnosed with a medical condition that would require “surgical intervention” over the next four to six weeks, along with “potentially significant follow-up and recovery treatments.”

The lawyers asked for a hearing within two months to provide an update on her medical condition, treatment plan and when a trial might be possible.

Prosecutors did not immediately comment on the development.