We begin tonight with the scandal on Capitol Hill and a siting United States Senator in federal court for charges of bribery and corruption. Senator B.M and his wife pleaded not guilty today accused of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars of bribe in form of cash, gold bars and a luxury vehicle. Well, the Senator was released on one hundred thousand dollars bond and his wife set a two hundred fifty thousand. Calls for his resignation are growing with thirty democratic Senators now saying he should step down. Three New Jersey businessmen were also charged in the bribery scheme pleaded not guilty.

Senator M was serious and respectful in court although at times he did crack a few smiles and consoled his wife while more of his senate colleagues abandoned him politically. New Jersey Senator R.M arrived in federal court hand in hand with his wife N. The couple were in the same row as they were arraigned and pleaded not guilty to three felony charges including conspiracy to commit bribery, fraud and extortion. The senator responded “yes your honor” when asked if he understood the charges against him. He was ordered to surrender his personal passport. According to the indictment, M and his wife allegedly accepted bribes nearly five hundred thousand dollars in cash found in pockets of a coat bearing his name, over one thousand dollars’ worth of gold bars and a sixty thousand dollars Mercedes convertible in exchange for his effort to direct federal aid and weapons sales to Egypt. He is also accused of enriching three business partners who also pleaded not guilty. CBSN has learned the FBI is investigating whether Egypt intelligence services try to gain access to the Senator with his wife.