(WatchDogReport.org) – Pennsylvania Democratic Senator John Fetterman introduced a resolution to sanction New Jersey Democratic Senator Bob Menendez on November 2 after he was indicted on bribery charges. In a statement, Fetterman explained he had to take legal steps against Menendez as he threatened the United States “national security.”
According to different reports, the sanctions proposed in Fetterman’s resolution against Menendez would automatically strip the New Jersey senator of his access to classified information and his committee assignments. The resolution only targets US lawmakers who have been indicted on charges of acting as foreign agents, compromising national security, or mishandling top-secret material.
The New Jersey Democratic senator was indicted on September 12 on bribery charges alleging that he and his wife received thousands of dollars from Egyptian officials to act on behalf of interests in Egypt. Menendez allegedly accepted the payments in cash and gold.
In the statement, the Pennsylvania senator explained that the Senate has an obligation to constituents and the country to ban senators from having access to “sensitive national secrets” if they are representing “foreign powers.” Fetterman added that the Senate has to make extensive efforts to protect the institution and national security if an “indicted senator” doesn’t have the “basic decency” to resign.
Over the last few weeks, the Pennsylvania senator has been Menendez’s most prominent critic in the Senate. Fetterman was the first Democratic senator to call on Menendez to step down after being indicted. He has even pushed the issue on social media and in TV interviews numerous times.
Menendez has repeatedly denied wrongdoing in the case. The New Jersey democrat kept sitting as a member of the upper chamber’s Foreign Relations Committee and even attended classified briefings. However, he stepped down as the chair of that committee recently.
On November 1, Menendez told reporters he needs to have his security credentials because he’s a US senator and claimed that an accusation isn’t “proof of anything.”
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