Attorneys for indicted Sen. Bob Menendez have blasted prosecutors for allegedly outing his sensitive mental health information as the two sides duke it out over whether a psychiatrist should be able to testify for the embattled Democrat at his bribery trial later this month.
Menendez’s lawyers claimed Thursday in a letter to Manhattan federal judge Sidney Stein that government attorneys “publicly revealed deeply private and sensitive details about Senator Menendez’s personal history and mental health diagnosis.”
The exposure and subsequent media coverage “likely infect[ed] the pool of potential jurors,” the defense team added.
On Wednesday, prosecutors filed papers arguing that proposed expert witness Dr. Karen Rosenbaum shouldn’t be allowed to testify at trial about her theory that Menendez hoarded cash and gold bars because of past trauma. The government filing redacted the exact condition that Rosenbaum diagnosed Menendez with.
Rosenbaum — who previously testified for the defense of Manhattan “Killer Nanny” Yoselyn Ortega — would argue that because of Menendez’s family history as refugees from Cuba and because of his dad’s suicide over gambling debts, the Garden State Democrat formed the habit of squirreling away money at home.
Menendez and wife Nadine stowed nearly $500,000 in cash and at least 13 gold bars — all of which, prosecutors say, were bribes given in exchange for political favors — in their Englewood Cliffs home.
Days after the federal indictment was unsealed in September, the New York City-born senator told reporters he kept the cash close at hand due to “the history of my family facing confiscation in Cuba.”
Menendez, 70, has a “fear of scarcity” that prompted “the development of a longstanding coping mechanism of routinely withdrawing and storing cash in his home” because of two traumatic events — his family fleeing Cuba and his father’s death, his lawyers said Rosenbaum would explain.
The defense team said the feds revealing this information — in particular that the elder Menendez killed himself after Bob stopped paying his gambling debts — violated Stein’s directions at an April 29 court conference for the two sides to huddle and try to reach an agreement over evidence redactions before coming back to the judge with any remaining disputes.
While Menendez hadn’t made a final decision whether to call Rosenbaum, “the government’s filing now forces the defense’s hands” as the jury will expect to hear testimony about Menendez’ mental health diagnosis, the letter says.
The New Jersey senator’s attorneys want the judge to force prosecutors to submit a sworn declaration explaining why they published the information in order to see if they did it intentionally and what, if any, sanctions should be brought against them.
Menendez, his wife and two others are accused of a scheme in which the senator allegedly used his office to do favors for three businessmen and the countries of Egypt and Qatar in exchange for receiving the cash, gold and a Mercedes convertible, among other objects.
One of the businessmen, Jose Uribe, has pleaded guilty and is cooperating with prosecutors.
Menendez is slated to go to trial on May 13, while Nadine’s trial was postponed until July for health reasons.
A spokesperson for the Manhattan US Attorney’s Office declined to comment Friday.