Sen. John Fetterman told CNN he plans to try to force a vote this week to prevent indicted Sen. Bob Menendez from receiving classified briefings if that isn’t dealt with internally as the two men trade barbs over the bribery and fraud charges facing the New Jersey Democrat.
“He’s a schoolyard bully,” Menendez told CNN’s Manu Raju.
“And I call him ‘about to be a felon,’” Fetterman, of Pennsylvania, shot back in an interview with CNN that aired Sunday. “I’m picking on him? No, it’s like, I’m just asking you to resign. And you need to resign.”
The back-and-forth is the latest in an escalating war of words between the two Democratic senators as Fetterman has publicly demanded Menendez resign, endorsed a primary challenger against him, and called it “outrageous” that he continues to receive classified briefings as he faces bribery and corruption charges. Menendez has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
“Yeah, I think it should be like, ‘Hey, you know what, that’s a minimum,’” Fetterman told CNN when asked whether he thinks leadership should bar Menendez from classified briefings. “I mean obviously I had hope that they would chuck him by now, but if that’s not going to happen, something is going to happen” when his trial starts in May.
Fetterman, one of the first senators to call for Menendez’s resignation, told CNN he plans to give it until the end of this week to deal with the issue internally before he tries to publicly force the matter on the Senate floor. The Pennsylvania freshman senator has introduced a resolution that would bar senators indicted on national security issues – such as Menendez – from attending classified briefings.
“The director of the CIA is now being involved in negotiations with the two nations that Menendez is accused of being a foreign agent for and he’s…
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