Menendez faces three counts, including conspiracy to commit extortion under color of official right, a charge for public officials who take bribes in return for official acts.

The indictment alleges the New Jersey senator provided sensitive U.S. government information to aid Egypt, sought to influence a pair of criminal investigations into two New Jersey businessmen and attempted to interfere with an investigation by the state attorney general’s office.

According to the indictment, the bribes included "cash, gold, payments toward a home mortgage, compensation for a low-or-no-show job, a luxury vehicle and other things of value." Last year, Menendez added on his financial disclosure that his wife owned up to $250,000 worth of gold bars...

Prosecutors also noted that in a search of Menendez’s home, investigators found more than $550,000 in cash that was, in part, hidden in clothes.