Menendez due for first court appearance after bribery indictment

Washington — Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez is set to appear in court Wednesday to be arraigned after he was indicted last week for allegedly engaging in a bribery scheme that involved using his political power to help the Egyptian government and three New Jersey businessmen.

The New Jersey senator and his wife, Nadine Menendez, were each charged with three counts related to what federal prosecutors said was a yearslong plot through which Menendez accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars, gold bars and a Mercedes-Benz convertible, among other items.

Menendez has defiantly denied any wrongdoing and repeatedly said he believes that he will be exonerated. The senator on Monday pledged to remain in his role as the senior senator representing New Jersey, though he did step down as the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.