New Jersey Democratic Senator Robert Menendez has been indicted for allegedly accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes, according to the Justice Department.
Prosecutors say Mr Menendez and his wife accepted gold bars and envelopes of cash from New Jersey businessmen.
The senator and his wife accepted the money to secretly aid the Egyptian government, prosecutors allege.
Both Mr and Ms Menendez have vehemently denied the charges.
The pair each face three criminal counts: conspiracy to commit bribery, conspiracy to commit honest services fraud, and conspiracy to commit extortion under color of official right.
The indictment comes after a years-long Justice Department investigation.
Prosecutors allege Mr Menendez and his wife Nadine accepted bribes of cash, gold, payments toward a home mortgage and a luxury vehicle from three New Jersey men: Wael Hana, Jose Uribe and Fred Daibes.
In addition to helping the Egyptian government, they also took the bribes to use Mr Menendez’s power as a senator to protect the three businessmen, according to the indictment.