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U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein scheduled trial in the case for
May 6, giving prosecutors time to hand over evidence to
Menendez's attorneys and allow them to make legal challenges.
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan have accused Menendez, 69, and
his wife of accepting gold bars and hundreds of thousands of
dollars in cash in exchange for the senator using his influence
to aid Egypt's government and interfere with law enforcement
investigations of the businessmen.
The senator's wife and businessmen Jose Uribe, 56, Fred Daibes,
66, and Wael Hana, 40, have also pleaded not guilty.
The indictment contained images of gold bars and cash
investigators seized from Menendez's home. Prosecutors say Hana
arranged meetings between the senator and Egyptian officials -
who pressed him to sign off on military aid - and in return put
his wife on the payroll of a company he controlled.
The probe marks the third time Menendez has been under
investigation by federal prosecutors. He has never been
convicted.
Menendez, one of two senators representing New Jersey, stepped
down from his role as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee, as required under his party's rules. But he has
maintained his innocence and rejected calls from several of his
fellow Democratic senators to resign.
(Reporting by Jody Godoy and Luc Cohen in New York and Kanishka
Singh in Washington; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Bill Berkrot)
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