Mayor Marion Barry, the mayor of Washington, D.C., had just taken a long drag from a crack pipe when the FBI burst in and slapped on the handcuffs, ending his hopes of having sex with the woman who had invited him to the hotel room in the first place back in 1990.
“Bitch set me up!” he said as they dragged him away.
Call it the Menendez defense. With his trial set to begin next month, freshly revealed court documents confirm what legal observers predicted months ago when Menendez and his wife, Nadine, hired separate legal teams. He’s apparently going to blame his wife. And when her trial comes up in July, she may just blame him. Strap yourself in.
Menendez is still threatening to run for re-election as an independent in November. So, let’s think about how this stunt might fly with voters in November.
“It’s pretty despicable,” says Micah Rasmussen of Rider University. “Let’s not forget, her trial was delayed because she’s sick. So, you’re blaming the sick wife? We’re going to have to believe she masterminded all this? That’s a tall order.”
It may be more useful in court, even if seems a stretch. According to the indictment, Menendez’s wife Nadine was usually the point person contacting the men who are accused of showering Menendez and her with bribes. That may give defense attorneys a chance to create doubt about Menendez’s knowledge of just what was going on.
Hey, sometimes a new Mercedes appears in the garage. Why ask questions? And who among us hasn’t stuffed a few dozen gold bars in the closet once in a while, without knowing where they came from?
As for the $500,000 in cash the FBI found in their home, Menendez says that is his own money, set aside for emergencies, the way the rest of us set aside duct tape and a flashlight. And he adds that, given his family roots in Cuba, he wanted to protect it from government confiscation. Seriously.
Still, as a legal matter, some lawyers say this move might be useful to Menendez. At his trial next month, he can try to blame her, and if she tries to object, he may be able to block her testimony by claiming spousal privilege. At Nadine’s trial in July, she could try the same stunt. With separate trials, each jury could wind up hearing only the version that helps the defendant before them.
“It’s a high-stakes strategy,” says one senior former federal prosecutor, who asked not to be named. “It’s too early to tell how this will play out, but there’s no question it is a tactical advantage to each of them to not be sitting in the same courtroom for that reason, to make arguments about the greater culpability of the other…They might find advantage in throwing each other under the bus.”
To me, the big question is not whether Menendez spends his remaining days locked in a prison cell, even if he deserves it. I’m rooting for his conviction for political reasons, because it would snuff out any talk of running for Senate as an independent. If he really runs, he could play the role of spoiler in the November election, siphoning off enough Democratic votes from Rep. Andy Kim to give Republicans at least a slim chance to take the seat.
Electing a Republican governor in Trenton is lower risk. Someone like Sen. Jon Bramnick, a GOP candidate, is no autocrat. He’s a Never Trumper.
But sending a Republican to the Senate would fortify the political power of Donald Trump, even if he loses the election, given his power over the party. From Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s has been able to block aid to Ukraine for six months, and to snuff out a tough bill on immigration. The leading Republican Senate candidate is Curtis Bashaw, who recently wrecked his reputation as a moderate by endorsing Trump, and the Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade.
Menendez has to know he has no chance of winning. He may be greedy, but he’s not dumb. But if he were to run as an independent, a recent FDU poll showed he could cut Kim’s lead over his GOP rivals in half, to five points, uncomfortably close to the margin of error.
Still, I probably worry too much. If Menendez is convicted, it’s over. And even if his strategy works, and Nadine takes the hit, he’ll be wounded.
“Chivalry is dead in New Jersey,” says Ross Baker, an expert on the U.S. Senate and a professor emeritus at Rutgers. “Shifting the blame is not a good look for someone trying to make a political comeback.”
One way or another, New Jersey is almost certain to shake off Menendez within the next several months, to close this sorry chapter in our history. It can’t happen too soon.
More: Tom Moran columns
Tom Moran may be reached at tmoran@starledger.com or (973) 986-6951. Follow him on Twitter @tomamoran. Find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook.
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