The federal corruption trial against U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez has not started, but things are taking a turn. Attorneys for Menendez are now blasting prosecutors. His team alleges prosecutors disclosed Menendez’s sensitive mental health information when they made public letters sent to the judge in his federal corruption case detailing a psychiatric condition.
According to court documents, Menendez’s team planned to call a New York psychiatrist to testify on his behalf. The team looked to explain how the senator’s past trauma, stemming from his family history as refugees from Cuba and his father’s death by suicide over gambling debts, formed his habit of squirreling away money, specifically the hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and gold bars investigators found in his Bergen County home.
“Certainly, this is reflective of what’s obviously a very high stakes prosecution,” attorney and former federal prosecutor Brian Whisler said. “It’s the second time that this senator’s been prosecuted by the U. S. Justice Department, so I think that elevates the stakes.”
Prosecutors want the judge to block that testimony, or allow another psychiatrist to do an evaluation on Menendez.
