Sen. Bob Menendez has asked a federal judge to move his bribery trial out of New York and allow it to happen in New Jersey.

The Democratic senator is accused of conspiring with his wife and three businessmen to use his position as a United States senator to benefit them and the governments of Qatar and Egypt.

Officials say that Menendez received bribes of cash, gold bars and a luxury car. Menendez allegedly met with co-conspirators at a Manhattan restaurant to arrange a meeting with an Egyptian official. He says that this is not a good enough reason to try the case in New York City.

Menendez’s wife Nadine Arslanian also wants her case separate from her husband’s so that they don’t have to decide to testify against each other.

The trial is slated to begin in May. All five defendants have pleaded not guilty.