Manhattan Federal Prosecutor’s Office charged last week Menendez, 69, and his wife accept gold bars and hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash in exchange for the senator using his influence to help the Egyptian government and interfere in police investigations into the businessmen.
Menendez pleaded not guilty through his attorney, Seth Farber, in a hearing before federal Judge Ona Wang in Manhattan.
Wang said Menendez could be released on $100,000 bail. The senator must surrender his personal passport, but can keep his official passport and travel abroad on a mission.
Also read More and more voices in the Democratic Party are calling for the resignation of Senator Bob Menéndez
Wearing a pinstripe suit, Menendez smiled and chatted with his lawyers after the hearing. After leaving the courtroom, the senator and his wife Nadine walked past dozens of journalists without answering questions, got into a black car and drove away.
Nadine Menéndez, 56, and businessmen José Uribe, 56, and Fred Daibes, 66, also pleaded not guilty. The senator’s wife was released on $250,000 bail, while Uribe and Daibes posted $1 million and $2 million as security.
A third businessman, Wael Hana, 40, pleaded not guilty Tuesday and was released on $5 million bail.
More than half of Democratic senators – including Cory Booker, New Jersey’s youngest senator – have called on Menendez, a strong foreign policy voice who has at times defied his own party, to resign following Friday’s revelations.
The indictment included images of gold bars and cash that investigators seized from Menendez’s home. It is the third time that federal prosecutors have investigated the senator, but he has never been convicted.