Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., took another dig at the embattled New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez, calling him a "sleazeball" for being present at Secretary Antony Blinken's classified briefing to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday despite his alleged corruption.
Menendez stepped down as committee chairman last year following his federal bribery indictment.
"I don't know why anybody would take a meeting with that sleazeball," Fetterman said to reporters. "And he needs to go. I've been very clear about that. And that's why they are choosing to endorse, Andy Kim, and it's astonishing."
Rep. Andy Kim, D-N.J., is running against Menendez for his Senate seat in the 2024 election. Kim is part of a chorale of Democrats calling for the New Jersey senator to resign.
Fetterman, who has repeatedly called for Menendez to be expelled, said, "We should have chucked him."
"I don't know why we haven't chucked him, and I sure hope eventually we do chuck him," he said.
DEMOCRAT LAWMAKER RENEWS CALL TO EXPEL MENENDEZ AFTER LATEST BRIBERY CHARGES
Prosecutors accused Menendez in a second superseding indictment unsealed this month of accepting bribes and gifts in exchange for helping to benefit Qatar as part of a years-long corruption scheme from 2021 through 2023, one year longer than originally thought, the Justice Department said.
His attorney, Adam Fee, said the new allegations "stink of desperation."
Menendez and his wife, Nadine, requested separate trials, according to documents that each of their lawyers filed late Monday. Their trial is set to begin in May in Manhattan.
In a request to District Court Judge Sidney H. Stein, Nadine's lawyers claim she seeks to protect confidential marital communications with Menendez, anticipating her husband's potential testimony in their trial.
Menendez is facing federal charges for allegedly acting as a foreign agent and accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars of bribes to benefit the Egyptian government through his power and influence as a senator. His attorneys filed a motion to dismiss the additional charges earlier this month.
DEMOCRAT SEN. BOB MENENDEZ SETS UP DEFENSE FUND AMID CRIMINAL PROBE INTO GIFTS TO HIS WIFE: REPORT
Menendez, along with his wife Nadine and three New Jersey businessmen – Wael Hana, Jose Uribe and Fred Daibes – were first charged in the federal bribery scheme on Sept. 23. All have pleaded not guilty.
Among the new allegations is that Menendez and hs wife enriched themselves with cash, gold bars and a luxury car. The couple allegedly received the gifts in exchange for Menendez using his influence to induce the Qatari Investment Co. to invest with Daibes.
""Sensationalized allegations are now creating a rising call for my resignation, despite my innocence and before a single piece of evidence has even been introduced in a court of law," Menendez said on the Senate floor this month.
Menendez repeatedly asserted his innocence and claimed "there is no evidence" of the gifts and payments he allegedly received as a suspected foreign agent.
"In fact, there will be at trial a full explanation of what is the truth about those issues, a truth that proves I am entirely innocent of the charges," he said.
