Sen. Bob Menendez says his wife has breast cancer

May 16 (UPI) -- Nadine Menendez, the wife of embattled New Jersey Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez, has breast cancer, her husband said Thursday.

Menendez and his wife are charged separately in a case alleging the senator abused his position to act as a foreign agent for Egypt and Qatar and accepted bribes from several New Jersey businessmen.

Nadine Menendez's trial had been delayed until July due to previously undisclosed health reasons.

"Nadine is suffering from Grade 3 breast cancer, which will require her to have mastectomy surgery," her husband said in a statement. "We are, of course, concerned about the seriousness and advanced stage of the disease. She will require follow-up surgery and possibly radiation treatment. We hope and pray for the best results."

Bob Menendez went on trial this week. They both have pleaded not guilty.

The senator's attorney, Avi Weitzman, earlier this week tried to distance Menendez from his wife by arguing the two lived mostly "separate lives" and had "separate finances."

Weitzman accused Nadine Menendez of stashing the gold bars believed by prosecutors to be bribes in their home. The lawyer noted the gold was kept in a locked closet which her husband did not have access to.

Federal investigators in 2022 found 13 gold bars worth an estimated $100,000 and over $480,000 in cash while executing a search warrant on Menendez's home. They also found nearly $80,000 in his wife's safe deposit box at a nearby bank.

The judge presiding over the case on Wednesday rejected testimony from a psychiatrist who evaluated Menendez for two alleged traumatic events in the senator's life, which presumably would explain the large stash of cash and gold in his home.

Menendez wanted his psychiatrist to testify about his "fear of scarcity" which allegedly stemmed from having his family's property confiscated in Cuba. His lawyers also wanted the jury to understand that his father committed suicide.

Menendez is being tried alongside two businessmen Wael Hana, an Egyptian American businessman, and Fred Daibes, a New Jersey real estate developer.

Prosecutors alleged Hana and Daibes gave the gold bars to Menendez and his wife. They all have pleaded not guilty.

Jose Uribe, a third businessman indicted in the case, pleaded guilty in March and admitted to gifting Nadine Menendez a $60,000 Mercedes to influence her husband. He has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors and will testify in the trial.