- Fetterman introduced a resolution to bar Menendez from classified information
- If passed, it would apply to all senators accused of certain crimes
- Menendez sparked outrage when he attended a classified briefing Wednesday
Senator John Fetterman stepped up his campaign against Bob Menendez with a resolution that would bar his fellow Democratic senator from classified briefings as he awaits trial on bribery charges.
Menendez is accused of using his role as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to benefit Egypt in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Fetterman filed a resolution Thursday that would disqualify Menendez from secret hearings.
‘If you find gold bars in a mattress, the jokes write themselves. But our national security is not funny, it is often life and death,” Fetterman said.
Menendez, 69, one of the nation’s most powerful senators, pleaded not guilty last month to a series of charges.
Senator John Fetterman (left) ramped up his campaign against Bob Menendez with a resolution that would ban his fellow Democratic senator from classified briefings
Fetterman filed a resolution Thursday that would disqualify Menendez from secret hearings as he awaits trial on bribery charges.
Investigators said they found nearly $500,000 in cash, much of it hidden in clothing and closets, at his New Jersey home.
They also found gold bars worth more than $100,000.
In the meantime, Menendez has stepped down as head of the Foreign Relations Committee — in accordance with Democratic caucus rules — but continues to attend classified briefings.
He sparked outrage and questions in the White House over how he was allowed to participate in a secret hearing in Ukraine on Wednesday.
“The bottom line is, I’m a United States senator,” he told CNN. “I have my security details. And an accusation is just that: it’s not proof of anything.
Fetterman plans to change the rules. His resolution would not only bar senators accused of certain crimes from receiving classified information but also remove them from committees.
“The Senate has an obligation to its constituents and this country to do everything in its power to protect national security, and that means ensuring that senators currently under indictment for acting as agents of foreign powers do not have access to our most sensitive national secrets,” Fetterman said.
“If an indicted senator does not have the courage or decency to resign, the Senate must act to protect national security and the institution itself.”
Authorities said they found more than $100,000 worth of gold bars in Menendez’s home. In March 2022, Nadine met with a jeweler to sell some gold bars that she had wrongly received from her mother.
He was one of the loudest voices calling for Menendez’s expulsion after he was indicted.
“We cannot have a so-called foreign agent in the United States Senate,” he said last month. “This is not a close call.”
The charge against Menendez, as a public servant, was prohibited from serving as a foreign agent.
He is charged together with his wife Nadine and three businessmen.