Bob Menendez’s wife could lose home, income and serve prison time as she still must answer her own corruption charges: sources

Federally convicted Sen. Robert Menendez’s wife’s trial on corruption charges has been postponed indefinitely, but she faces an uncertain future with mounting legal bills and potentially losing all her income as well as her healthcare, according to sources.

Nadine Arslanian, 57, who is currently fighting breast cancer, was dealt a terrible blow when her New Jersey senator husband, 70, was convicted on all 16 felony counts against him this week — not least as she also faces trial on the same charges.

Even before the conviction Arslanian has been hammering out a last-ditch legal strategy with her lawyers which experts say likely may include pleading guilty to bribery and other charges in exchange for a more lenient sentence.

“A plea is always possible,” said prominent Manhattan criminal defense attorney Ben Brafman, who is not involved with the case.

“He [Menendez] sort of blamed her for everything as a defense which doesn’t leave much room in her own trial.”

Menendez’s legal strategy included claiming Arslanian “kept him in the dark” about cash she was receiving from three New Jersey businessmen to pay off a Mercedes convertible and the mortgage on her home in Englewood Cliffs, NJ, said defense attorney Adam Fee in closing arguments last week.

However, the jury didn’t buy that defense and he now faces over 200 years behind bars when sentenced in October. Until that time, Menendez is free on bail.

Taking a plea is a situation Arslanian may be considering given friends of the couple told The Post she is worried about their legal bills, potentially spending years in prison and the possible loss of the marital home.

Bob Menendez’s conviction could motivate wife to take plea in corruption case: experts

The house belongs to Arslanian and was granted as part of her divorce from first husband, Raffi Arslanian.

“If someone pleads guilty the exposure on sentencing may be less severe,” Brafman continued.

Marc Eisenstein, a Washington DC-based attorney representing Arslanian, refused comment Wednesday.

Federal authorities placed a “lis pedens” — Latin for “pending litigation” — on the Englewood Cliffs property in September when they first charged them both with bribery, preventing them from selling the property, according to public records.

The legal instrument effectively prevents them from selling the property until a final judgment is rendered.

Federal authorities also seized almost $500,000 in cash and gold bars, which they found in a locked closet, stuffed into jacket pockets and old shoes, in the couple’s home.

Following Menendez’s conviction this week, the couple also faces losing the senator’s health benefits and retirement perks. The Stock Act, passed in 2012, punishes lawmakers convicted of corruption-related felonies by taking away their retirement perks.

Bob Menendez tells allies he plans on resigning after federal bribery conviction

Menendez collects a $174,000 annual Senate salary and would be eligible for a pension of nearly $140,000 a year plus health care for him and his wife for life, as a member of Congress with more than 30 years of government service, according to the US Office of Personnel Management .

Menendez has been in the Senate since 2006, and before that was the Representative for New Jersey’s 13th district, beginning in 1993.

Menendez, who is under pressure from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to resign immediately, will likely ignore that call, analysts say.

“The chorus of calls for Senator Menendez to give up his biggest negotiating chip, his Senate seat, belies the fact that, as a convicted felon, he faces the possible loss of retirement benefits. All while his wife, Nadine, is battling breast cancer and facing her own criminal indictment related to Menendez’s charges,” said Thomas Anderson, president of the Last Government Watchdog.

Menendez is not likely to willingly give up his Senate seat, according to those who have known him for years.

“He’s not going anyplace,” said Hank Sheinkopf, a political strategist who has known Menendez for 35 years. “Menendez’s history should teach us that you should never count him out. This is not a guy who is going to go down easy.”

Menendez, who is running as an independent in November, may try to seek a presidential pardon from whomever takes the White House in November.

His independent run is likely to split the vote for his Democratic rival, Rep. Andy Kim (D-NJ 3rd District) and could propel a Republican candidate into his senate seat, political analysts say.

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Experts said that Biden might be more likely to pardon Menendez if the senator is willing to drop out and not split the vote. But there is also an expectation former president Donald Trump could pardon him.

“My thoughts and prayers are with former President Trump and everyone affected at his rally today,” said Menendez in an X post, shortly after the assassination attempt against Donald Trump in Butler, PA Saturday. “I am glad he is safe.”

The senator has also vowed to appeal his conviction, likely focusing on evidence that prosecutors entered that could violate the Speech and Debate Clause, which protects Members of Congress and their staffers from lawsuits that arise from their work in government.

In the first days of the trial, Menendez’s legal team asked for a mistrial, invoking the Speech and Debate Clause, according to Politico.

Menendez was convicted of acting as a foreign agent for both Egypt and Qatar. A jury found him guilty of ghostwriting letters for Egyptian officials in order to secure tens of millions in US military aid as well as introducing co-defendant Daibes to Qatari royals to secure nearly $100 million in investment for one of the developer’s projects in New Jersey.

“I’m deeply, deeply disappointed by the jury’s decision,” Menendez said after a jury of 12 New Yorkers found him guilty Tuesday.

“I have every faith that the law and the facts are not sustained with that decision, and that we will be successful upon appeal. I have never violated my public oath.”

Two of the Menendez’s associates — Wael Hana and Fred Daibes — were co-defendants in Bob’s trial, and also convicted Tuesday.

A third, insurance executive Jose Uribe, entered into a plea deal and became the prosecution’s star witness at the ten week trial, which detailed a sprawling corruption and bribery scheme with Menendez exchanging official favors for the the cash and gold bars found in their home.

On Monday, a day before the verdict, a federal judge said Arslanian’s trial had been postponed indefinitely, but did not give a reason why.

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