Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) plans to return the $5,000 Sen. Bob Menendez’s leadership committee donated to his senatorial campaign last year in cash envelopes.
Fetterman’s spokesperson Joe Calvello told The Messenger: “We are in the process of returning the money in envelopes stuffed with $100 bills”
The move comes after Menendez was indicted last week on bribery charges for allegedly accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars and a Mercedes-Benz convertible in return for the use of his office to enrich three New Jersey businessmen and benefit the Egyptian government.
Federal agents executed a search warrant at Menendez’s home and found more than $480,000 in cash, “much of it stuffed into envelopes and hidden in clothing, closets, and a safe,” including jackets bearing the senator’s name that were hanging in his closet.
Fetterman was the first Democratic senator demanding Menendez resign after news of the indictment broke.
“Senator Menendez should resign,” Fetterman wrote in a post on Twitter. “He’s entitled to the presumption of innocence, but he cannot continue to wield influence over national policy, especially given the serious and specific nature of the allegations.”
Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown became the second Democratic senator to call for Menendez’s resignation on Monday.
