Scandal-plagued Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) took a defiant tone with his Democratic colleagues during a closed-door meeting Thursday, refusing to step down despite being indicted on federal bribery charges that could land him in prison for decades.

Just a day after his arraignment in Manhattan federal court, Menendez delivered a spirited defense of his conduct for about 15 minutes, according to Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) who was present for the meeting.

“I will continue to cast votes on behalf of the people of New Jersey, as I have for 18 years,” Menendez told reporters after the meeting.

“I think [Senate Majority Leader Chuck] Schumer may need those votes, he’ll be looking forward for me to cast them.”

Schumer is notably one of a handful of Senate Democrats who has not called on Menendez to resign.

Absent from the meeting was Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), the first Dem to call on Menendez to go.

“He’s got to go,” a freshly shaven Fetterman told CNN.

“And that arrogance, where he’s now saying, ‘I’m not going anywhere’ — it’s like, my dude, you are going somewhere. It’s going to be an election or it’s going to be a conviction.”

Last Friday, Manhattan prosecutors unsealed an indictment charging Menendez and his wife Nadine with three counts.

The couple is accused of pocketing $486,461 worth of cash payments and $150,000 in gold bars as well as a $60,000 Mercedes-Benz convertible to help businessmen Wael Hana, Jose Uribe and Fred Daibes.

In exchange for that ill-gotten windfall, Menendez allegedly leveraged his political position to run interference in investigations revolving around his wealthy friends.

One example listed in the indictment is that Uribe sought Mendendez’s help to interfere in the New Jersey attorney general’s prosecution of one of his colleagues for insurance fraud.

Menendez also allegedly advocated for the appointment of Philip Sellinger to be New Jersey US attorney under the belief that he could twist the prosecutor to favor his buddies.

Most strikingly, the Garden State Democrat stands accused of transmitting “sensitive US government information” to Egypt and secretly prodding his colleagues to release $300 million to Cairo.

Menendez had served as the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, but stepped down after the charges were made public.

Prosecutors cited wads of cash found in jackets emblazoned with the senator’s name, DNA from one of the alleged bribers on an envelope stuffed with money, and an internet search history in which Menendez inquired about the value of a “kilo of gold.”

Menendez has vehemently denied the allegations against him, claiming that he stockpiled large sums of cash out of a habit inherited from his Cuban ancestors.

The senator has also cried conspiracy and racism in response to the indictment, claiming his opponents are resorting to dirty tricks to dig his political grave.

More than two dozen Senate Democrats, including his fellow New Jerseyan Cory Booker, have called for Menendez to resign, as has Garden State Gov. Phil Murphy.

“It’s hard for me to see how the senator can effectively at this moment,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) told reporters Thursday without explicitly calling for Menendez’s ouster.

If convicted, both Menendez and his wife could face up to 45 years behind federal bars. The three businessmen each face up to 25 years.

To represent him, the senator has tapped Abbe Lowell, who successfully defended Menendez on separate corruption charges in 2017.

Menendez was spared a conviction in that case due to a hung jury.