Sen. Bob Menendez ‘much more sinister’ than George Santos: Fetterman

Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) said Friday that he was “not surprised” by the House vote to expel former Rep. George Santos (R-NY), but is more concerned with the corruption allegations against Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ).

“We have a colleague in the Senate that actually does much more sinister and serious kinds of things,” the 54-year-old said during an appearance on “The View.” 

“Senator Menendez, he needs to go,” Fetterman added, “and if you are going to expel Santos, how can you allow somebody like Menendez to remain in the Senate?”

Fetterman argued that while Santos’ laundry list of lies “were almost funny,” the allegations against Menendez make him question the New Jersey Democrat’s allegiance to America. 

“Menendez, I think, is really a senator for Egypt, you know, not New Jersey. So I really think he needs to go and especially it’s kind of strange that if Santos is not allowed to remain in the House, you know, someone like that [is],” he said. 

Menendez, 69, his second wife, the former Nadine Arslanian, and three associates were indicted in September on charges of bribery and conspiring to act as foreign agents for Egypt. All five deny all charges.

Federal agents discovered three kilos of gold bars and nearly $500,000 in cash, some stuffed into the pockets of Menendez’s jackets, during a June 2022 raid of his Englewood Cliffs, NJ, home, which authorities say were bribes. 

Menendez stepped down from his post as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee after his indictment but has refused to resign from the upper chamber and has not ruled out running for re-election next year. 

Fetterman, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and dozens of other Democrats in Congress have called on Menendez to relinquish his seat in the Senate. 

The Garden State senator’s son, Rep. Rob Menendez (D-NJ), voted to expel Santos on Friday, joining all but seven House Democrats in support of the resolution put forward by Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (R-NY) and House Ethics Committee Chairman Michael Guest (R-Miss.) earlier this month. 

Santos, the sixth member ever to be expelled from the House, is facing a 23-count federal indictment for allegedly having laundered his campaign’s money and defrauded donors. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges and is due to stand trial in September of next year.