The wife of Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and three other defendants pleaded not guilty on Wednesday in a criminal bribery case accusing the senator, his wife, and another of conspiring to use him as an agent of the Egyptian government. Menendez had been excused from the proceeding in Manhattan federal court until next Monday because of his Senate business. His wife, Nadine Menendez, and businessman Wael Hana entered their not guilty pleas after a rewritten indictment last week charged them with the conspiracy to use the senator as an Egyptian agent despite his being prohibited from doing so as a member of Congress. An earlier indictment accused Menendez and his wife of being involved in a bribery conspiracy by accepting cash and other forms of payment from a group of New Jersey businessman seeking to use Menendez’s influence in foreign affairs.