Sen. Bob Menendez’s (D-NJ) attorneys on Wednesday claimed the lawmaker, who is facing charges related to bribery and corruption, hoarded gold bars and hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash because of “intergenerational trauma.” This supposed trauma is related to his family’s struggles as Cuban refugees.

The senator’s attorneys argued that his hoarding behavior was a “coping mechanism” resulting from his trauma.

The senator and his wife, Nadine Menendez, allegedly traded political favors to the Egyptian government and three businessmen for financial gains. An FBI raid in September on the couple’s $1.2 million house found $480,000 in cash—“much of it stuffed into envelopes and hidden in clothing, closets, and a safe”—along with gold bars worth around $100,000.

“Senator Menendez suffered intergenerational trauma stemming from his family’s experience as refugees, who had their funds confiscated by the Cuban government and were left with only a small amount of cash that they had stashed away in their home,” the filing read.

The lawyers also said Menendez “experienced trauma when his father, a compulsive gambler, died by suicide after Senator Menendez eventually decided to discontinue paying off his father’s gambling debts.”

Menendez has asked the court to bring in a psychologist to verify his claims. Federal prosecutors, however, opposed the request and accused him of trying to bias the jury by “engender[ing] sympathy based on his family background, in the guise of expert testimony.”

If the court allows it, the psychiatrist who examined the lawmaker will testify at trial about Menendez’s supposed condition. The prosecution has objected to the psychiatrist’s testimony.

Prosecutors, objecting to the proposed testimony, included the letter in a legal filing on Wednesday and asked the judge to prevent the psychiatrist from testifying. They asserted the psychiatrist’s conclusion “does not appear to be the product of any reliable scientific principle or method” and is an attempt to gain sympathy from the jury.

Menendez is accused of accepting bribes from businessmen in exchange for using his position to grant them favors and to assist the Egyptian government. His wife is also facing charges. The senator’s lawyers recently indicated that they would attempt to shift blame for the crimes to his wife.

Lawyers for Menendez, who announced in late March he won’t run in the New Jersey Democrat primary as he faces federal corruption charges, asked a U.S. judge to try him separately from his wife, Nadine. They are accused of accepting bribes of cash, gold bars, and a car to help three businessmen from the Egyptian government. Menendez is also charged with acting as a foreign agent of Egypt.

Here’s more:

At trial, Menendez may testify about communications he had with his wife regarding their dinners with Egyptian officials and her explanation of why two of the businessmen gave her “certain monetary items,” according to the March filing. But U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein agreed Tuesday to a media coalition’s request to unseal a passage that showed a rift between the couple.

That passage said the explanations and communications “will tend to exonerate Senator Menendez by demonstrating the absence of any improper intent on Senator Menendez’s part.” They may also incriminate “Nadine by demonstrating the ways in which she withheld information from Senator Menendez or otherwise led him to believe that nothing unlawful was taking place,” according to the filing.

By saying he had no “improper intent” and he may blame her, Menendez signaled he’s prepared at his May 6 trial to break from the united front they’d previously presented. Before the passage was unsealed, Menendez had not publicly blamed his wife for his legal troubles.

Menendez has repeatedly denied the charges. He will not be seeking reelection — at least not as a Democrat.