NEW YORK  — U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez was convicted of all charges at his corruption trial Tuesday, including accepting bribes of gold and cash from three New Jersey businessmen and acting as a foreign agent for the Egyptian government.

Prosecutors said the Democrat abused the power of his office to protect allies from criminal investigations and enrich associates, including his wife, through acts that included meeting with Egyptian intelligence officials and softening his position toward that country as he speeded its access to millions of dollars in U.S. military aid.

Menendez, 70, looked toward the jury at times and appeared to mark a document in front of him as the verdict was read. Afterward, he sat resting his chin against his closed hands, elbows on the table. He and his lawyers vowed to appeal as they left the courthouse.

“I have never violated my public oath. I have never been anything but a patriot of my country and for my country. I have never, ever been a foreign agent,” Menendez said before a collection of microphones outside the courthouse before walking briskly to a waiting car.

Menendez did not testify at the nine-week trial, but insisted publicly he was only doing his job as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He said gold bars found in his New Jersey home by the FBI belonged to his wife, Nadine Menendez. She too was charged but her trial was postponed so she could recover from breast cancer surgery. She has pleaded not guilty.

The verdict comes four months before Election Day and potentially dooms Menendez’s chances of winning reelection as an independent.

The trial’s outcome prompted a chorus of Democrats to call on Menendez to resign, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, New Jersey’s junior senator, Corey Booker, and the party’s nominee to replace Menendez, Rep. Andy Kim.

“In light of this guilty verdict, Senator Menendez must now do what is right for his constituents, the Senate, and our country, and resign,” Schumer’s statement said.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, who would appoint Menendez’s replacement, urged the Senate to expel him if he doesn’t resign. It’s not clear whether Schumer would be willing to hold those votes. Expulsion requires a two-thirds majority. A senator has not been removed from office in over a century.

Curtis Bashaw, the Republican candidate for the seat, also called on Menendez to quit, saying New Jersey deserves better than “corruption and made-for-tv political scandals, courtesy of Bob Menendez and the Democratic machine.”

The Senate Ethics Committee, meanwhile, will complete its own investigation of Menendez “promptly” and consider a “full range of disciplinary actions,” according to a statement from Democrat Chris Coons and Republican James Lankford, the committee’s chairman and vice-chairman. The probe adds further pressure on Menendez to voluntarily resign.

Menendez faces the possibility of decades in prison when he is sentenced on Oct. 29. He was found guilty of 16 counts.

This was the second corruption trial for Menendez. An earlier prosecution on unrelated charges in 2017 ended with a deadlocked jury.

“This case has always been about shocking levels of corruption, hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in the form of cash, gold bars, a Mercedes-Benz. This wasn’t politics as usual, this was politics for profit. And now that a jury has convicted Bob Menendez, his years of selling his office to the highest bidder have finally come to an end,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said outside the courthouse shortly before Menendez came out.

Two co-defendants also were convicted. The New Jersey businessmen, Wael Hana and Fred Daibes, were accused of paying bribes. A third businessman, Jose Uribe, pleaded guilty prior to trial and testified against the others.