New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez due in court for hearing on…

NEW YORK (WABC) — The case against New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez is the focus of a court hearing in Lower Manhattan on Wednesday.

It’s connected to new federal charges he’s facing weeks after he was accused of accepting bribes.

This is the first time a sitting member of Congress has been charged with conspiring to act as a foreign agent.

Menendez, until recently, was the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Federal prosecutors say he was a part of a corrupt agreement between January 2018 and June 2022, where the senator received hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes for official access.

The indictment says his wife and business associate were both involved.

This was just weeks after he and his wife were accused of accepting bribes, things like cash, gold bars, and luxury cars from New Jersey businessmen.

Menendez, his wife, and his business associate pleaded not guilty to these charges.

The senator released a statement saying,

“Piling new charge upon new charge does not make the allegations true. The facts haven’t changed, only a new charge. It is an attempt to wear someone down and I will not succumb to this tactic.”

There are growing calls for the senator to step down, but Menendez refuses to do so.

ALSO READ | Deadly crash from 2018 involving Senator Menendez’s wife gets new attention after indictment

———-

* Get Eyewitness News Delivered

* More New Jersey news

* Send us a news tip

* Download the abc7NY app for breaking news alerts

* Follow us on YouTube

Submit a tip or story idea to Eyewitness News

Have a breaking news tip or an idea for a story we should cover? Send it to Eyewitness News using the form below. If attaching a video or photo, terms of use apply.