Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and his wife are requesting separate cases after being indicted together on bribery charges in September. 

Attorneys for Nadine Arslanian Menendez, the New Jersey senator’s wife, filed a motion on Monday, arguing that a joint trial would “undoubtedly prejudice Ms. Menendez’s right to defend herself at a fair trial.”

Lawyers wrote that “maintaining the confidentiality of her privileged marital communications and exercising her spousal testimonial privilege without sacrificing her ability to testify in her own defense collectively support a finding of a ‘serious risk’ that a joint trial will compromise her ‘specific trial rights.’”

In a server motion, attorneys for the Democratic senator said Bob Menendez was unaware of any unlawful conduct and that he “intends to present a defense arguing (in part) that he lacked the requisite knowledge of much of the conduct and statements of his wife, Nadine.” A joint trial may present problems if his lawyers argue Nadine Arslanian Menendez was aware of criminal activity. 

Both assert that a joint trial will force one another to defend themselves while testifying against the other. Under federal and many state laws, spousal privilege means husbands and wives can’t be compelled to testify against his or her spouse, barring permission from the spouse. 

Bob Menendez and his wife were indicted on charges of taking bribes from three New Jersey businessmen, accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars, and using his position in Congress to benefit the Egyptian government. Investigators discovered more than $100,000 worth of gold bars in his New Jersey home, along with more than $500,000 in cash. 

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Bob Menendez, his wife, and three other co-defendants pleaded not guilty in October. The New Jersey Democrat said he would not step down from the Senate despite multiple calls from his colleagues to resign. 

His lawyers said a joint trial would “force Senator Menendez to make an impossible and prejudicial choice between testifying on his own behalf and exercising his spousal privilege to avoid being converted through cross-examination into a witness against his spouse.”