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.