Facing controversy, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito and Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) have used an age-old political strategy to try and get out of their situations: blaming their wives.
Alito and Menendez may have taken a page out of former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell’s and former California Rep. Duncan Hunter’s playbooks, who, too, threw their wives under the bus when faced with legal trouble. While it may be a sound legal strategy, as spouses cannot be compelled to testify against one another, it could also be a stab in the back where the wife feels she is being given away.
“Given how the public generally holds women to a higher ethical standard than men and expect them to take raps for behavior men routinely get away with, I could see how men might think blaming their wife for a misdeed could shield them from criticism,” Jennifer Palmieri, a political strategist, told the New York Times. “But not when it involves your wife.”
Alito says wife flew ‘Stop the Steal’ flag
In a report published last week, Alito came under fire after neighbors claimed the Alito house flew an upside-down American flag, which, at the time, was a symbol of the “Stop the Steal” movement surrounding the Jan. 6 insurrection and former President Donald Trump’s alleged attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
In response, Alito claimed no responsibility for the flag and said his wife, Martha-Ann, flew it.
“I had no involvement whatsoever in the flying of the flag,” Alito said. “It was briefly placed by Mrs. Alito in response to a neighbor’s use of objectionable and personally insulting language on yard signs.”
According to eyewitness accounts from his Alexandria, Virginia, neighbors, the flag flew for several days upside down after it was put up.
“It might be his spouse or someone else living in his home, but he shouldn’t have it in his yard as his message to the world,” Amanda Frost, a law professor at the University of Virginia, told the New York Times. She added that this was “the equivalent of putting a ‘Stop the Steal’ sign in your yard, which is a problem if you’re deciding election-related cases.”
The Supreme Court is expected to soon hand down rulings on cases tied to the Capitol riot, including whether Trump, the 2024 presumptive Republican presidential nominee, has immunity related to criminal charges of trying to overturn the election.
Menendez places alleged bribery scheme on his wife
Menendez’s lawyers have placed the blame on his wife, Nadine, for their alleged involvement in a foreign bribery scheme involving thousands of dollars worth of gifts, including a Mercedes Benz. During the trial against the senator which started earlier this month, the prosecution said Nadine Menendez was essential in orchestrating the alleged bribery scheme, and the senator’s defense team has also tried to place the blame on her.
“She kept things from him,” Avi Weitzman, Bob Menendez’s attorney, said Tuesday in court. “She kept him in the dark on what she was asking others to give her. She was outgoing; she was fun loving. But she wasn’t going to let Bob know that she had financial problems.”
According to prosecutors, Nadine Menendez and her friend Wael Hana introduced the Menendezes to Egyptian military and intelligence officials, which began the alleged string of bribes between the couple and Egypt and Qatar.
Nadine Menendez began giving sensitive, nonpublic information to the Egyptians and facilitating U.S. relations via her husband’s job in the government and Egypt, according to the indictments against them.
Nadine Menendez’s case is set to take place later this summer. Bob and Nadine Menendez have both pleaded not guilty.
Former Virginia governor blames his estranged marriage for corruption charges
McDonnell, the former Republican Virginia governor, alongside his wife, Maureen, faced federal corruption charges in 2014 for allegedly accepting more than $165,000 in gifts, including Rolex watches and vacations.
The governor’s lawyers alleged that his marriage was too estranged for Bob McDonnell to be involved in the conspiracy. In court, Maureen McDonnell was painted as a “crazy wife.”
“I knew there was no way I could go home after a day in court and have to rehash the day’s events with my wife,” Bob McDonnell testified, saying he moved out of the family home before the trial began.
He reportedly said he thought his wife needed counseling and said staff in the Virginia governor’s mansion signed a petition to quit if Maureen McDonnell’s bad behavior did not improve.
“She would yell at me,” Bob McDonnell told the court. “She would tell me I was taking staff’s side, that I didn’t know what it was really going on over there.”
He also answered “yes” when asked by the judge if his wife had a “strong emotional attachment” to the man who was accused of giving them the corrupt gifts but stopped short of saying if he believed there was a physical affair.
Former California representative says his wife controlled their finances
When Duncan Hunter, a former Republican representative from California, and his wife, Margaret, faced charges of misusing campaign funds for personal reasons in 2018, Duncan Hunter said he was not aware of any wrongdoing because it was his wife who controlled the money in the family.
When he was first charged with the crime, Duncan Hunter called the charges a “witch hunt” and “Democrats’ arm of law enforcement.” One day later, he switched his legal strategy to place the blame on his wife, claiming that she handled the campaign finances and he had nothing to do with it.
“She was also the campaign manager, so whatever she did that’ll be looked at too, I’m sure,” Duncan Hunter said of his wife. “But I didn’t do it. I didn’t spend any money illegally.”
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He claimed Margaret Hunter handled both the campaign finances and their personal finances and that he was not involved. The pair pleaded guilty to some of the charges, with Duncan Hunter being sentenced to 11 months in prison.
Duncan and Margaret Hunter did not serve any of their sentences, as former President Donald Trump pardoned them both in 2020.