U.S. Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey pleaded not guilty Wednesday to federal charges accusing him of pocketing bribes in the form of cash and gold bars in exchange for exerting his political influence to secretly advance Egyptian interests to promote and grant favors to local businessmen.

Menendez led his wife, Nadine, who also pleaded not guilty in the case, out of the courtroom by the hand after the brief hearing at the federal courthouse in Lower Manhattan, days after prosecutors unveiled an indictment alleging massive corruption by the Democrat. The couple ignored shouted questions from reporters as they left the courthouse. Menendez smiled through pursed lips as he got into a car.

A defiant Menendez has said accusations that he has abused his power to line his pockets are baseless. He has said he is confident he will be acquitted and has no plans to leave the Senate.

Still, calls for Menendez to resign continued to mount Wednesday, with Sen. Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, saying he should resign. More than half of Senate Democrats have now said Menendez should resign, including fellow New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker.

Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, speaking hours after Menendez’s court appearance, did not call for the senator to resign and said Menendez would address his Democratic colleagues on Thursday. We all know that senators are held to a much, much higher standard for senators. And it’s clear that, if you read the indictment, Sen. Menendez fell far below that standard, Schumer (D-N.Y.) said.

Menendez only spoke in court if each defendant acknowledged that he understood the charges against him. A lawyer pleaded not guilty for Menendez, who was forced to resign as chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee after his indictment.

The senator was released on a $100,000 bond and must surrender his personal passports, but will be allowed to keep an official passport that allows him to travel outside the U.S. on government business. The judge ordered him not to have any contact with his co-suspects, except his wife, without the presence of lawyers.

He also cannot discuss the case outside the presence of lawyers, members of his Senate staff, Foreign Relations Committee staff or political advisers who have personal knowledge of the allegations. It was not immediately clear how these restrictions would affect his work.

It is the second corruption case in a decade against Menendez, whose last trial with several charges ended when jurors failed to reach a verdict in 2017.

Authorities say they found nearly $500,000 in cash, much of it hidden in clothing and closets, as well as more than $100,000 in gold bars in a search of the New Jersey home that Menendez, 69, shares with his wife.

Menendez’s wife was released on a $250,000 bond secured by her Englewood Cliffs, NJ home. Prosecutors say she played a key role in collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from three New Jersey businessmen who sought help from the longtime lawmaker.

Prosecutors allege repeated actions by Menendez to benefit Egypt’s authoritarian government. They say Menendez also tried to interfere in criminal investigations involving associates, in one case pushing to install a federal prosecutor in New Jersey who he thought he could influence to derail a case.

Two of the businessmen, Jose Uribe and Fred Daibes, also pleaded not guilty and were released pending trial. They did not speak to reporters as they left the courthouse and their attorneys also declined to comment.

The third, Wael Hana, pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to charges including conspiracy to commit bribery. Hana was arrested at John F. Kennedy International Airport on Tuesday after she voluntarily returned from Egypt to face the charges and was released pending trial.

Menendez said Monday in his first public comments following last week’s indictment that the money found in his home had been taken from his personal savings accounts over the years and that he was keeping it on hand for emergencies.

However, one of the cash-filled envelopes found at his home contained Daibe’s DNA and was marked with the real estate developer’s return address, according to prosecutors.

Prosecutors said Hana promised to put Menendez’s wife on his company payroll in a low- or no-show job in exchange for Menendez using his position of influence to facilitate foreign military sales and financing to Egypt. Prosecutors allege Hana also paid $23,000 toward her mortgage, wrote $30,000 checks to her consulting firm, promised her envelopes of cash, sent her exercise equipment and purchased some of the gold bars found in the couple’s home .

The indictment alleges repeated actions by Menendez in favor of Egypt despite the U.S. government’s misgivings about the country’s human rights record, which have prompted Congress in recent years to impose restrictions on aid .

Prosecutors, who held detailed meetings and dinners between Menendez and Egyptian officials, say Menendez gave sensitive U.S. government information to Egyptian officials and wrote a letter to fellow senators encouraging them to send $300 million in aid to Egypt, one of the largest recipients. of US military support.

Prosecutors have accused Menendez of pressuring a U.S. agriculture official to stop opposing a lucrative deal that gave Hana’s company a monopoly on certifying that imported meat met religious standards.