That's it from us for today on the charges, but we plan to continue coverage as more unfolds on the case.

If you're interested in reading more on today's events, we have a good summary here.

We also have stories laying out the 2015 case against Menendez and how it ended in mistrial.

Today's contributors were Brandon Drenon, Franz Strasser, Lisa Lambert, Courtney Lewis, Thomas Mackintosh and Jacqueline Howard. The page was edited by Brandon Livesay and Marianna Brady.

Before we close this page, we want to bring you Bob Menendez's statement on the indictments against him.

Senator Menendez has released a fiery response to the case, calling it part of an active smear campaign, extolling his congressional and foreign policy record, and vowing that "this matter will be successfully resolved once all of the facts are presented".

“For years, forces behind the scenes have repeatedly attempted to silence my voice and dig my political grave," he says in the statement, but does not identify anyone specifically.

"Since this investigation was leaked nearly a year ago, there has been an active smear campaign of anonymous sources and innuendos to create an air of impropriety where none exists."

He also says his wife, Nadine Menendez, is being prosecuted for "longstanding friendships she had before she and I even met".

The senator refers to another corruption case against him, which ended in mistrial five years ago, saying he has been falsely accused before.

We've learned a lot from the indictment and press conference on the alleged corruption scheme involving Senator Bob Menendez and his wife Nadine.

The case claims that Menendez, chairman of the US Senate's foreign relations committee, provided assistance to Egypt in exchange for bribes that were allegedly often facilitated by his wife, Nadine.

Access to the pair didn't seem to come cheap. They were allegedly given more than a half million dollars in cash, as well as stacks of bars of gold, a $23,000 payment toward Nadine Menendez's mortgage, a salary for a "low-or-no-show job", a Mercedes Benz convertible, and "other things of value" such as an air purifier and exercise equipment, according to the indictment.

In return, the justice department says, Menendez provided Egypt with sensitive US government information, assisted with the sales of arms and artillery to Egypt, and pressured the treasury and state department on negotiations over a key Nile River dam project, among other acts.

The other people charged in the case are Wael Hana, Jose Uribe and Fred Daibes. They are described as the "Three New Jersey Businessmen".

The FBI says it is not done in its investigation and is continuing to seek out information.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (Crew) says for years it has raised concerns over Senator Menendez's conduct, and today called for his resignation.

“The stain of corruption continuously taints Menendez," a statement from Crew reads.

"Crew has for years raised concerns about Menendez potentially selling his position, and the Senate Ethics Committee previously found serious misconduct by him. The conduct outlined in today’s indictment and the evidence presented are even more damning," the statement says.

"Menendez deserves a fair trial and a presumption of innocence on these latest charges, but it is not appropriate for him to remain in office. Out of respect for the institution of the Senate, he must step down.”

Image source, Getty Images

Bob Menendez's wife Nadine is also charged in the corruption case and allegedly acted frequently as the go-between for her husband with Egyptian officials, starting when she was first dating Menendez.

According to the indictment, Nadine Menendez was paid for a "low-or-no-show job" in exchange for access, among other things. She also allegedly created an international consulting firm to receive payments, the indictment says.

The justice department says she was unemployed before she began dating the senator.

The couple are coming up on their third wedding anniversary - they were married during the pandemic in October 2020.

According to reports, Bob Menendez met Nadine a decade earlier at an IHOP, also known as International House of Pancakes, in 2011, but the pair only began dating years later.

Menendez proposed to her by singing in front of the Taj Mahal, a video posted to YouTube shows.

She has also been married before, with the New York Times reporting that she struggled financially after a 2005 divorce. The indictment alleges that in 2019 one member of the corruption scheme paid $23,000 on her mortgage to help her avoid foreclosure.

Image source, SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK

Another detail from the indictment centres around the purchase of a Mercedes Benz convertable.

According to the indictment, Nadine Menedez purchased a car in April 2019 and made a $15,000 downpayment using a combination of cash and credit cards.

She also took out an automotive loan to finance the remainder of the approximately $60,000 purchase price, court documents say.

"A number of the statements Nadine Menedez made on the application in order to secure the loan financing were false, including statements about her employment and income," the indictment says.

"After the purchase was complete, Nadine Menendez messaged [Bob] Menendez, 'Congratulations mon amour de la vie, we are the proud owners of a 2019 Mercedes'."

Anthony Zurcher
BBC North America correspondent

A Democratic senator being indicted for bribery isn’t good news for Joe Biden and the Democratic Party. There are, however, some circumstances that make this particular case a bit more tolerable for them than it might initially seem.

Menendez comes from a state that has been safely Democratic in recent years – and one that has a Democratic governor. If the senator is forced to resign, chances are that a Democrat will replace him.

And Menendez might still survive this. He was re-elected six year ago not long after a jury was unable to reach a verdict in a previous corruption trial – and shortly after a Senate ethics committee had admonished him for accepting inappropriate gifts from a donor. Swirling accusations of misconduct have not seemed to sink the veteran politician.

In another bit of silver lining for Democrats, Menendez’s charges could help them deflect repeated Republican accusations following Donald Trump’s indictment that the Biden administration’s Justice Department has a two-tiered set of standards for criminal prosecutions. Now both a former Republican president and a prominent Democratic senator are in the crosshairs.

The president is probably relieved, however, that – according to the White House – the now-indicted senator did not show up for photographs with Biden as part of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus gala proceedings on Thursday night.

That would have been a bad look, silver linings or not.

The investigation is very much ongoing, Williams adds.

"We are not done," he says as he urges anyone with information to come forward and contact the FBI's tip line.

He then thanks the cooperation from teams at the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

This ends the press conference.

Williams said that FBI agents executed a search warrant on Menendez's home and safety deposit box, where they found approximately $500,000 in cash, stuffed into envelops sitting in jacket pockets.

Agents also discovered "a lot of gold", Williams said.

During the press conference he showed an image of gold bars and said it was 3kg worth of gold.

"These 3kg together are worth approximately $150,000," Williams said.

Williams acknowledges that providing services to constituents is part of a legislator’s job. But he says there are things a senator can’t do for constituents – and notes that Menendez’s own website lists services that he's not allowed to provide.

Williams alleges the New Jersey senator violated his own listed rules.

“He was doing those things for certain people – the people who were bribing him and his wife,” Williams says.

Attorney Williams is expanding on the indictments against Menendez.

First, he alleges that Menendez provided secret documents to an Egyptian official and "took steps to secretly aid the Egyptian government". He also alleges Menendez improperly pressured a senior official to protect a lucrative monopoly, which was used to fund further bribes.

He then says the senator used his power and influence to try to disrupt an investigation in New Jersey as well as a federal investigation.

Williams says Menendez sought to install an attorney who could bend to pressure.

"Fortunately the public officials the senator sought to influence did not bend to the pressure," Williams says.

Attorney Williams says the indictment "alleges between 2018 and 2022 Senator Menendez and his wife Nadine engaged in a corrupt relationship."

Williams adds through these relationships Senator Menendez accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars of bribes.

Damian Williams, US attorney for the Southern District of New York, opened the press conference listing a three count indictment.

It charges Senator Menendez, his wife, Nadine, and three New Jersey businessmen with bribery offenses.

We are about to hear from the proscutor's office.

You can watch a livestream by clicking the play button at the top of this page.

Image source, Handout

Federal agents found more than $480,000 (£391,000) in cash stashed at the senator’s home. The money was "stuffed into envelopes and hidden in clothing, closets and a safe" according to the indictment.

Some of the envelopes had fingerprints or DNA belong to one of the accused bribers, Fred Daibes. Three envelopes were found in jackets hanging in the senator’s closet. The jackets had his name on the front, according to the indictment

Another $70,000 (£57,010) was in Mrs Menendez’s safe deposit box.

Prosecutors said the search of the house also turned up more than $100,000 (£81,439) worth of gold bars.

The Democrat senator has faced unrelated bribery charges before today's indictment.

He was previously indicted in New Jersey in 2015, including one count of conspiracy, and eight counts of bribery, having allegedly accepted luxury vacations from a wealthy Florida eye doctor.

That case ended in a mistrial after jurors were unable to reach a unanimous verdict.

The legal documents released today make a series of allegations.

Prosecutors claim Menendez and his wife accepted bribes including cash, gold, payments toward a home mortgage and a luxury Mercedes convertible from three New Jersey men: Wael Hana, Jose Uribe and Fred Daibes.

They did so in exchange for using Menendez's influence and power as a senator to protect the three businessmen and to "benefit the Arab Republic of Egypt", according to the indictment.

Image source, Handout

Thank you for joining our live coverage of the indictment of US Senator Bob Menendez from New Jersey.

Unsealed charges this morning allege he accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes, including gold bars and cash.

The charges come after a years-long Justice Department investigation.

The DOJ announced a press conference set to start at 11:00 EST (16:00 BST).

Stick with us as we follow the latest developments.