Fetterman wants Senate to boot Menendez amid new charges

Sen. John Fetterman called on the Senate to expel Sen. Robert Menendez from Congress after new charges were brought to light showing that the New Jersey Democrat acted as a foreign agent.

“Sen. Menendez should not be a U.S. senator. He should have been gone long ago,” Mr. Fetterman, Pennsylvania Democrat, said in a statement  Thursday on X. “It is time for every one of my colleagues in the Senate to join me in expelling Sen. Menendez.”

He added, “We cannot have an alleged foreign agent in the United States Senate. This is not a close call.”

Federal prosecutors announced a new charge against Mr. Menendez and his wife, Nadine, alleging they conspired to have the senator act as a foreign agent of Egypt while he chaired the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

The superseding indictment, filed in New York, alleges that they and New Jersey businessman Wael Hana used his Senate position to aid Egypt’s government without being registered as a foreign agent.

The new indictment comes less than a month after all three were charged with conspiracy to commit bribery, conspiracy to commit honest services fraud and conspiracy to commit extortion. Mr. Menendez was accused of misusing his office to benefit wealthy businessmen and the Egyptian government.

All of them have denied any wrongdoing. Mr. Menendez has refused to give up his seat even though many of his colleagues have called on him to do so.

In a statement Thursday, Mr. Menendez stressed that he has been loyal to only the U.S. his entire life.

“The government’s latest charge flies in the face of my long record of standing up for human rights and democracy in Egypt and in challenging leaders of that country, including President [Abdel Fattah] el-Sisi, on these issues,” he said. “I have been, throughout my life, loyal to only one country — the United States of America, the land my family chose to live in democracy and freedom.”

Rep. Andy Kim, New Jersey Democrat, who is vying for Mr. Menendez’s seat, also called on the Senate to expel him.

“As a former national security official who swore an oath to defend our Constitution, I cannot stand by as the senator representing my family and my state has been accused of acting as a foreign agent,” Mr. Kim said in a statement Thursday on X. “Given the severity of these charges, the U.S. Senate should vote on expulsion.”