WASHINGTON — Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., on Tuesday reiterated his call for the expulsion of his colleague Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., from Congress after a federal grand jury filed a second superseding indictment against him.
“Now, accused of selling his honor and our nation for a $24,000 watch. Accused as a foreign agent for *two* nations. How much more before we finally expel @SenatorMenendez?” Fetterman wrote in a post on X hours after the new indictment was handed down.
According to the new indictment, Menendez helped a New Jersey developer secure a multimillion-dollar investment from a company linked to Qatar by making several statements supporting the country. The indictment says Menendez sent the developer text messages discussing the alleged scheme.
Menendez and his wife, Nadine, were initially charged with bribery last September over their alleged acceptance of “hundreds of thousands of dollars” in exchange for the use of the senator’s influence to enrich three New Jersey businessmen and to benefit the Egyptian government.
In October, new charges were brought against Menendez accusing him of accepting bribes from a foreign government and conspiring to act as a foreign agent. The indictment alleged that the senator “provided sensitive U.S. Government information and took other steps that secretly aided the Government of Egypt.”
Soon after the first set of charges in September, Fetterman became the first senator to say that he would back a vote to expel Menendez from the upper chamber. As of December, a majority of the Senate Democratic Caucus has called for him to resign.
The Constitution allows for each chamber of Congress to “punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds, expel a member.” The Senate has only expelled 15 members since 1789, including 14 during the Civil War for supporting the Confederacy.
In November, Fetterman introduced a resolution that would remove Menendez as a member of Senate committees and would block his access to classified briefings and information. And in early December, he enlisted newly ousted Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., to record a sarcastic video aimed at Menendez.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
