Senator Robert Menendez, his wife and three New Jersey businessmen accused of joining an alleged bribery and corruption scheme with the powerful head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee have all pleaded not guilty in a federal courtroom in Manhattan.
Mr Menendez has refused a growing number of calls from his Senate colleagues to resign after a grand jury indictment accused him of trading political favours involving the Egyptian government and agreeing to interrupt criminal investigations in exchange for cash, gold bars, a Mercedes-Benz convertible and other gifts.
