Senator Bob Menendez and his wife pleaded not guilty

on

Monday to new obstruction of justice in a New York court.

The new charges were contained in a rewritten complaint filed against the Democrat last week in Manhattan federal court.

Once again, Menendez responded, not guilty on your honor, after Judge Sidney H. Stein asked him to enter a plea during a 20-minute hearing. Menendez had previously pleaded guilty to charges in October.

Menendez and his wife Nadine entered pleas to the indictment with new charges of conspiracy to obstruct justice and obstruction of justice. They then spoke briefly before leaving the courtroom together.

The couple is accused of conspiring with three businessmen to accept bribes in the form of gold bars, cash and a luxury car in exchange for the senators’ help in projects pursued by the businessmen.

New charge of obstruction of justice against Senator Robert Menendez in revised indictment

Two out of three businessmen are

suspected of conspiring are charged with conspiracy

with not guilty pleas also entered

on

Monday. A third, Jose Uribe, pleaded guilty to bribery two weeks ago and agreed to testify against the others at a trial scheduled for May 6.

The new charges, part of what is now an 18-count indictment, relate to gifts prosecutors say the couple received from Uribe.

According to the indictment, Menendez caused his attorney to falsely tell prosecutors overseeing the investigation that he was unaware that another business associate had helped his wife pay a $23,000 mortgage on her New Jersey home. It said Nadine Menendez pushed her lawyer last August to tell prosecutors that the mortgage payment and the money Uribe provided for a Mercedes-Benz were loans, even though she knew they were bribes.

Menendez said in a statement last week that prosecutors have long known that I heard about and helped repay loans, not bribes, made to my wife.

After his fall arrest, the 70-year-old Menendez was forced to relinquish his chairmanship of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, but he said he would not resign from Congress.

Neumeister writes for the Associated Press.