John Fetterman calls on Menendez to resign, says he plans to return campaign donation in cash-stuffed envelopes

Sen. John Fetterman became the first senator from either party on Saturday to call on fellow Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez to resign in the wake of the federal bribery charges filed last week against Menendez and his wife.

But he didn’t stop there. On Monday, Fetterman’s team told The Messenger he plans to return Menendez’s $5,000 donation to his Senate campaign in the form of envelopes stuffed with hundred-dollar bills – a jab at the indictment alleging Menendez accepted bribes in the form of gold bars, luxury goods, and hundred-dollar bills stuffed into a jacket pocket.

In calling for his resignation, Fetterman said Menendez is “entitled to the presumption of innocence under our system, but he is not entitled to continue to wield influence over national policy, especially given the serious and specific nature of the allegations.”

» READ MORE: N.J. Sen. Bob Menendez indicted over gifts of gold bars and a luxury car

Menendez, whom prosecutors accuse of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes, has denied wrongdoing, and said in a statement Friday, “I’m not going anywhere.”

On Monday, Sen. Sherrod Brown, (D., Ohio) and Sen. Peter Welch, (D., Vermont) joined Fetterman in calling for Menendez’s resignation.

No other U.S. senators from either party have joined them. In interviews during the weekend, several senators condemned Menendez for the allegations in the indictment but urged for the legal process to play out and said it was up to Menendez’s constituents to determine whether he should stay in office.

Menendez’s fellow New Jersey senator, Cory Booker, has stayed silent since the indictment dropped. Booker has said in the past he considers Menendez a mentor and appeared as a character witness in Menendez’s 2018 corruption trial, which ended in a mistrial.

“It’s almost an understatement to say he was just a partner,” Booker said then, crediting Menendez with showing him the ropes in the chamber.

The Democrats hold a razor-thin majority in the Senate as it is, which ups the importance of what happens to Menendez’s seat in what has traditionally been a reliably blue state. And Senators have historically been cautious to call out fellow members in similar cases.

If Menendez were to resign, Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy would choose his successor to serve through the end of his term, Jan. 3, 2025.

While other Senators have been quiet, numerous Democrats in Menendez’s home state, including Murphy, have said he should step down.

» READ MORE: N.J. Gov. Phil Murphy, other top Democrats call on Sen. Bob Menendez to resign after second bribery indictment

Rep. Andy Kim, D-N.J., called on him to resign, and said Saturday he plans to challenge Menendez for his seat.