NEW YORK — The defense for Sen. Bob Menendez rested Wednesday without the New Jersey Democrat testifying at his New York bribery trial.

Lawyers for Menendez called several witnesses over two days in an effort to counter seven weeks of testimony and hundreds of exhibits and communications introduced by Manhattan federal prosecutors.

Menendez, 70, maintains he is not guilty of charges that he accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in gold and cash from 2018 through 2022 in exchange for using his clout in the Senate to deliver favors to the benefit of three New Jersey businessmen.