John Fetterman calls on Menendez to resign, says he plans to return campaign donation in cash-stuffed envelopes

Published 4:30 pm Monday, September 25, 2023

Sen. John Fetterman has called on fellow Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez to resign, making him the first — and so far only — senator from either party to do so in the wake of the federal bribery charges filed last week against Menendez and his wife.

But he didn’t stop there. On Monday, Fetterman’s team said he plans to return Menendez’s $5,000 donation to his Senate campaign in the form of envelopes stuffed with hundred-dollar bills – a jab at the indictment alleging Menendez accepted bribes in the form of gold bars, luxury goods, and hundred-dollar bills stuffed into a jacket pocket.

In calling for his resignation, Fetterman said Menendez is “entitled to the presumption of innocence under our system, but he is not entitled to continue to wield influence over national policy, especially given the serious and specific nature of the allegations.”

Menendez, whom prosecutors accuse of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes, has denied wrongdoing, and said in a statement Friday, “I’m not going anywhere.”

No other U.S. senator has taken Fetterman’s stance. In interviews over the weekend, several senators condemned Menendez for the allegations in the indictment but urged for the legal process to play out and said it was up to Menendez’s constituents to determine whether he should stay in office.

Menendez’s fellow New Jersey senator, Cory Booker, has stayed silent since the indictment dropped. Booker has said in the past he considers Menendez a mentor and appeared as a character witness in Menendez’s 2018 corruption trial, which ended in a mistrial.

“It’s almost an understatement to say he was just a partner,” Booker said then, crediting Menendez with showing him the ropes in the chamber.

The Democrats hold a razor-thin majority in the Senate as it is, which ups the importance of what happens to Menendez’s seat in what has traditionally been a reliably blue state. And Senators have historically been cautious to call out fellow members in similar cases.

If Menendez were to resign, Gov. Phil Murphy would choose his successor to serve through the end of his term, Jan. 3, 2025.

While other senators have been quiet, numerous Democrats in Menendez’s home state, including Murphy, have said he should step down.

U.S. Rep. Andy Kim, D-N.J., called on him to resign, and said Saturday he plans to challenge Menendez for his seat.