Judge denies New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez request to drop bribery charges

March 14 (UPI) -- A judge refused Thursday to dismiss bribery and other charges against New Jersey's Sen. Bob Menendez, saying his alleged actions weren't protected because of his job as a senator and former member of the Foreign Relations Committee.

Prosecutors have accused Menendez, a Democrat, of acting as an unregistered agent of Egypt, taking cash and other bribes to help the government of Qatar, and exchanging political favors for financial gain.

Menendez had asked that the charges be dismissed on other grounds, too, and this ruling does not affect that request, which remains pending before a judge.

Menedez's lawyers argue that overzealous prosecutors were trying to criminalize the normal activity of legislators and flouting the protections given to members of Congress under what is known as the Constitution's "speech or debate" clause.

"The government's accusations in this case -- that he sold his office and even sold out his nation -- are outrageously false, and indeed distort reality," Menendez's lawyers wrote. "Every official act the senator took represented his good-faith policy judgments."

The ruling came a day after Menendez, 70, delivered a rebuttal of the charges on the Senate floor.

Menendez is currently scheduled to go on trial May 6, but he could file an appeal of Thursday's ruling, his lawyers said, which could delay the trial.