The Latest John Fetterman Bombshell, Explained

0:00This is CityCast Pittsburgh. I'm Megan Harris, and here's what Pittsburgh's talking about. Mallory before he became a US Senator, is there an era in the John Federman arc that sticks most in your mind? I think really just like when I was introduced to him, which is when there were all of those articles about, can you believe there's a mayor who has tattoos? Homicide tattoo mayor. That's the one that you got to know first. Yeah, the Braddock right here, this Braddock zip code, and then the dates of when people had been killed and Braddock since he'd become mayor. But yeah, the sort of like he's tall and he's tough and he's got tats. All of that coverage was how he first came on my radar. Same, definitely. But I think the one that is more lodged in my brain is cannabis tour, John Federman, just because like during, well, I mean, the whole time he was mayor and Braddock too, but like while he was Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania, he went on this 67 county tour to like drum

1:05up support and hear from constituents about cannabis and making it recreationally legal here. It was just like such a big part of his personality in that piece of it. I'm not likening the guy to a Barbie, but I do feel like he's had like very specific personality attributes and interests over the years that like are kind of hard to not think about, you know? Yeah, although I feel like there's still, there's that city chorus of people saying this is always who he was. I've been trying to tell you. So I think he's both been many Barbies and maybe he was one Barbie all along. Yeah. I am with executive producer Mallory Falk and we're going to be talking about Pennsylvania Senator John Federman. Not just who he has been, but who he seems to be at least in the reporting right now, because a new story just dropped that talks a lot about all of the events and appointments and scheduled meetings that he is not attending and making some interesting excuses for also about his staff turnover, his stance on Israel and Iran.

2:06And now there's also this promise threat, maybe that even more incriminating information could be coming as soon as next week. So while we wait for that, we wanted to talk to you about this reporting that's dropped and maybe what you missed over Labor Day weekend. Yes, because this was a big piece from the Wall Street Journal. It dropped late in the day on Thursday and of course, yeah, heading into the song weekend might not have been on your radar, although I think there was a lot of chatter about this because you know, there's been conversations about Federman seeming like he is not into his job, not showing up for things, but this article had some real hard evidence from former staffers about some of these things he skipped out on and some of the ways he's talked about people that he was supposed to meet with and his constituents. Yeah, and I mean, just the gist is like that he's keeping a super light is how they describe it, daily schedule. So canceling meetings, feeling pretty withdrawn from Democratic colleagues and they do try to bring the receipts. The Wall Street Journal says that they interviewed more than a dozen former staffers at lawmakers,

3:07that they reviewed a lot of texts and other internal records. And I mean, I think it's part of this, like something to keep in the back of your mind, which we've talked about on the show before is that former staffers in Federman's office are not that hard to find because there's this quote unquote revolving door of AIDS, like people coming in and out or like there's just not deep retention there. And it means that they, the people that are working there kind of scrambling to, as they put it, maintain the appearance of a functioning office. Yeah. So we thought we would run through some of these examples that are getting a lot of traction. The first one, I don't know, maybe you could call it like chopgate. This is when Federman was supposed to meet with officials from the children's hospital of Philadelphia, also known as chop back in 2025. They wanted to talk to him about concerns about Medicaid cuts. So what Federman texted to his team was, why do I have to keep meeting with chop? He was told they have concerns about these Medicaid cuts and he said, well, I'm not. And then said, I'm convinced they just want free trips to DC.

4:09And then also last year, like you Mallory, I feel like I've seen this one pop up on my social a lot just because they're again, these are screenshots. There was this formal funeral for three police officers who died in the line of duty in York back in September. So they, when this happens, they tend to stack the funerals. So they'll do three at once. And because of that, they are quite long. In this case, it was scheduled to last three hours and Federman texted his team, three hours question mark, question mark. And then this may be a non starter. He ultimately didn't attend that. And York is where he grew up. Yeah, York County, exactly. Then you've got a couple state lawmakers saying that this year in April, Federman dodged their meetings. So one had brought constituents from Philly to DC and said that Federman was the only person like of all the lawmakers who refused to meet with them. Quote, he was available. He just chose not to meet with us. And then in another case, the state rap said she'd scheduled a meeting with Federman's approval. But then when she got there, he said he hadn't agreed to it and refused. I guess he was there, but his aides met with her instead.

5:11That same day, though, he was able to meet with a former college basketball coach and Israel advocate named Bruce Pearl. And then one more that the Wall Street Journal outlines in June, I guess there was a scheduled meeting with three paralyzed military veterans and wheelchairs to talk about legislation that might improve their care. But when they arrived, the staff said that Federman had eaten something bad and was not feeling well. So the staff met with them instead, but less than an hour later, according to staff through the Wall Street Journal, Federman walked in showing no signs of illness and then goes on Fox News to talk about Israel and the war and Iran. You know, we've had members of our team who ate something bad and then had to take some time the next day. I know it's a phenomenon that happens, but seems like there might have been something else happening here less than an hour. I feel like in DC traffic, like that's like that's your commute time, man. Yes. And then we went into what Federman says happened here in a minute here, but a little bit more from this Wall Street Journal article. I mean, I think there's been a lot of reporting about Federman's attendance record. Yeah.

6:11This detail kind of blew me away because I remember that too, Mallory, the Philly Inquirer reported, I think it was as of May of last year that at the time he had missed 11 out of 12 of the full hearings from his committee assignments because that's what happens in the Senate. That's you go to those meetings and there's like a hierarchy to it, depending on your seniority in the Senate, he was still pretty junior. But anyway, at that point, he was skipping a lot. While according to his Wall Street Journal article, a fellow senator, Alabama Republican Katie Britt. Told him after that that you can actually just show up to the meeting, get the attention of a clerk to get marked present doesn't even have to be you. It can be your staffer and then you could leave. So he started doing that instead. The way they described it, he would drift into the room for a minute or less and then bounce. So since June of 2025, when he learned about this trick, he has apparently been marked present 26 out of 31 times, but then they record everything that said during those meetings

7:13and transcripts show that he did not speak a single word at 20 of them. So was he there? Was he not? This reminds me of the trick I worked out in high school back when things were analog and we had physical attendance runners who would go pick up the attendance sheets from each classroom. And so whenever my friend was an attendance runner, I would have her mark me as present in my chemistry class and not attend. But that's something I did as a punk high school sophomore, not as someone in the highest seats of power, presumably representing the state of Pennsylvania. Yeah, I'm kind of ambiose of your friend and how much power they wielded in high school because like that's kind of a plunge job. But they yelled at it for good. And I don't know that the same could be said about our standard. For good, and for you. For my good, for my best. Yes. This Wall Street Journal talks a lot about his, just his kind of broad transition from this Bernie Sanders style progressive populist. I mean, that is, that is the image that he projected in 2022 when he was running for this

8:17office to, I mean, I think as he describes it, something a bit more centrist, certainly a person very vocally supportive of Israel. The Wall Street Journal ties a lot of this to how he is pulling here in Pennsylvania. I did not know this. He is apparently now more popular among some Republicans here than are actual Republican Senator Dave McCormick Republicans like Federman better. But of course, I mean, I think a lot of Democrats have talked about this for, for actual years now. His favorability rating among Democrats has just tanked people have been asking whether you're just going to outright switch parties. He did initially say no to that. He talked about it in his book a little bit. As recent as may, he said no. But then more recently, apparently, he said, quote, if our party ever becomes the anti-Israel party, you know, that's one I would leave. So apparently there is a scenario where he would switch parties. And if you haven't seen this already, I would recommend there's a video that went viral

9:19maybe about a month ago where John Stewart is kind of quizzing him about his red line being Israel that, you know, Federman could agree with candidates on everything else. They could have great ideas for the economy, want to get money out of politics like he says he does, want to increase the social safety net. But if they don't agree with him on Israel, he doesn't want them in his party. And Stewart says, I mean, no disrespect on this, but that is not our country. It's worth watching to see how Federman responds to this. So we will drop a link to that in our show notes. Yeah. And I mean, Federman's not up for re-election until 2028. We keep our senators for six years. But campaign finance records, I mean, they have to submit those even as sitting senators show already that he is getting support from conservative donors. I think the word they use is prominent. And then the article digs in a lot more on Federman's pro Israel stance. If you want to read more, we'll put a gif link in our show notes. It's also in today's newsletter.

10:20If you want to learn about what he says about that, I highly advise taking the time to read it. Huge props to the Wall Street Journal for doing this kind of work to be able to publish this kind of piece. And just to kind of back up here too, we can't forget that as all of this has happened in regard to his behavior in the Senate, the status he's taken, it's all come concurrently with his very public struggle with depression. He had that near fatal stroke in 2022. That was during the election. It was leading up to it. You know, last year his former chief of staff publicly talked about how Federman had abandoned quote unquote, his medical recovery plan that he was acting really paranoid. He was addicted to his smartphone. Federman said at the time that that guy was a former employee for a reason that he was just quote, disgruntled, I would say unlike some reporting I have read on the subject on Federman, the Wall Street Journal stays away from calling any of Federman's current behavior or senatorial behavior, a direct result of his, I would say, complex medical situation,

11:23but it doesn't forget it. Like it does mention that all of this stuff is happening at the same time. Yeah. Just, you know, put a pin in calling his former chief of staff disgruntled for when we get into Federman's responses to this article this time around. But the article does end with a rare public appearance that Federman made in area a couple of weeks ago with McCormick to talk about housing homelessness and poverty there. And in a brief Q&A after a local reporter asked the senators what they were doing to address the cost of living and high gas prices, probably one of the number one issues on people's minds at this moment. And Federman said quote, in terms of affordability, you know, what does that really mean? So we talked about the article. That's one thing. There have also been an, I would call a fairly large fallout from all of it, like repercussions Federman himself responding to a lot of the allegations that it holds, but also people

12:23that support and very much don't support him also speaking out in the wake of this. Yeah. So we're going to start with Federman's own response. I guess he didn't reply to requests for comment for the Wall Street Journal article, but over the weekend, presumably because this was getting so much attention, even over a long holiday weekend, he ended up talking to CNN. He told them that this was quote, a hit piece from disgruntled staffers. He mentioned that it was the third such hit piece because, you know, Megan, as you said, there's kind of been this rotation of people in and out of his office who then share their concerns once they've cycled out. He said per usual lies, half truths in you, windows smears and anonymous. And then he got into the specifics. He said that, you know, these texts were stripped of any context and circumstances. He called the text about chop officials wanting a free trip to DC, a dumb joke and said he sincerely apologized for it and then said that, you know, when it came to the York County police officers whose funerals he did not attend, that he privately ordered flowers for

13:25their families and expressed his condolences publicly on the day of the shootings. And then also privately attended a fundraiser for the families in June. And while he was there, he met with them and met with the police chief to personally express his condolences. And then as for that meeting with paralyzed veterans that he skipped out on, he said, I was sick. I was growing up at home and asked his staff to continue the meeting without him, but then felt better hours later. So he was able to continue with the day as scheduled. I will note the discrepancy between feeling better hours later and the reporting that it was less than an hour later on who was making this Fox News appearance. And maybe he called off in the morning, like genuinely, maybe he called off early in the morning for everything and they're considering it this way. Like I recognize that like multiple things can be true. But I think it's the combination of all of these things over many months. And at this point, years that makes it really difficult for the people that once supported him, really full-throdedly, to hear this stuff over and over and over again.

14:27Yeah, I think someone who's not known for this, people would give the benefit of the doubt if they had to cancel something over being sick one day and then we're back at it soon after. And I would also just like pause here and say if you would like to know more about what John Federman says for himself about any of this, I read his memoir unfettered last year, still like top tier in terms of puns and memoir titles ever. He is not shy about how he feels about any of the things that are both like the Wall Street Journal talks about, but also like those personas, those like various like we're joking, calling it barbies. Like these different eras he's had in his political career and his upbringing, I highly suggest like giving it a read, giving it a listen. Like he talks a lot about this and one of the things that like has stuck with me so much from reading it is like, for example, he's talking about like being the mayor of Bratwick and he says, I stopped attending council meetings because I found them boring.

15:27Like as I'm listening back to that, I'm just like, okay, okay, that that sounds sort of familiar. In the opening chapter, he refers to working on a standard Thursday afternoon as the ultimate graveyard shift for the Senate. And if you've ever worked an actual graveyard shift, like you know, done any of the kind of work that he claims to understand being as a representative of like a blue collar region, that's not what that is. Working in Congress on a random Thursday is not graveyard, my dude. Like that's just not a thing you can say and think that it's okay. But maybe because it's buried in his book, he thinks it's not going to get taken that way. Like there's quotes like, I hate politics, how the day of a Senate campaign launch was the worst day of his life. There's just so much in that book. And I would also say a tremendous amount of venom for the press. Like he spends a lot of time over multiple chapters talking about how every reporter he's ever met with very rare exception is out to get him.

16:28Well, he must be okay with someone at CNN to go to them for the comment in response to this article. It's such a rare exception, Valerie. He literally lists them by name when he thinks they're good. I do remember we talked a little bit about his book after you read it, Megan, and that you said this man knows how to hold a grudge. And so it doesn't surprise me that he actually named names. And even as he's discussing his like his experience in the Senate, he just sounds like he hates it. The book reads is like, this is a tremendous burden in his life and not the kind of work that he really wants to be doing. I mean, we talked about it on a past show, Valerie, where he talked kind of begrudgingly about having to go to work and go to a meeting in the Senate because he'd rather spend that day. I think in that case, it was like on Monday or Tuesday with his family, with his parents. And it's like, man, I get that. I so that resonates with me too. I would much rather spend a regular weekday with my family and not at work. I'm not a sitting US Senator. Do you actively chase this job?

17:28No, go do it. Yeah. And I mean, that gets into the way a lot of lawmakers have responded to this, which is essentially like, if you don't like doing your job, if you don't want to do your job, leave. It is time to go. We will get into that in a second. But first, he did have a defender in his fellow Senator from Pennsylvania, Dave McCormick. Yeah. He popped up on X on Twitter. These are those stories about Federmen or just quote the latest example of outrageously disloyal staff and forces on the left, Capitol L, using anonymous leaks to cancel my friend, John Federmen. They hate that he is an independent minker who refuses to fall into line. So they want to silence him, end quote. Yes. And he vowed to continue working with Federmen to deliver for Pennsylvania. He specifically cited a few things, saving jobs at US Steel, passing a new law to make housing more affordable, securing money to replace the Delaware River Bridge, and delivering funding to protect Presk Isle State Park. Yeah. Up there in Erie, I saw that too, and it made me wonder, like, are these things they did

18:31together? Is this just like McCormick, like, being a true politician and taking this opportunity to also brag on himself and the things that he is proud of accomplishing? Yeah. I felt very hyper specific, these references. Yeah. And then, of course, there were a lot of comments from people who are critical of Federmen, that may be more notably expected to at least consider challenging John Federmen in 2028. Yeah. So that includes US Representative Chris Delusio, who represents part of Alligain County and all of B for County. He's from Aspenwall. He said on social media that Federmen has no sense of duty and called out his laziness, disrespect, and willingness to carry water for a foreign government. And then, you know, there have been rumors swirling for a while now about whether or not he would run. He did confirm to KDK that he's quote unquote, thinking about running against Federmen. But you know, immediately pivoted to like right now, his focus is on winning the midterms. He's got to win his own seed. He wants to help flip congressional seats. So I don't know.

19:32I feel like this is really common that a lot of people say they're like thinking about it, twang with the idea. It's on their radar. But I don't know that we've gotten like firm commitments from people who planned to challenge him yet. And I've been here and people talk about Delusio and also US Representative Summer Lee, like are either of them going to like take a spin at this. I have not seen Lee's camp say anything about this beyond like previous statements that she's, she's also said like, I don't think he should hold this office anymore. I don't think he's a good representative for Democrats in the US Senate. Yeah. But yes, I couldn't find any any statements since this Wall Street Journal article dropped. But someone else who's been vocal former US Representative Connor Lamb. He was in office from 2018 to 2023, came on the scene in a special election for one district and then all the maps were redrawn and he won again in another one. As of his last run, he lived in Mount Lebanon. This was of course when he faced off against Federman in the Democratic Senate primary in

20:332022, lost to Federman. And we actually talked him on the show last September about his feelings about Federman, whether he's considering running. You talked to him at the time because this was when lots of random people were just kind of like publicly apologizing to him for not voting for him in that primary against Federman. Yeah, it was like a weird social media moment where people were like tagging his accounts and being like, Connor, I'm so sorry. I didn't vote for you and clearly I should have. Yes. So we will jump a link in our show notes if you want to catch up on that episode. If I remember correctly, he was a little bit cagey about whether he was going to run or not. But yes, if you want to hear how he feels about being mass publicly apologized to, definitely check that one out. Yeah. And of course this week, this weekend, he said on ex, if there is a decent bone left in your body, just quit. I mean, of course, this being directed to Federman himself, I think this was in direct his account. Yeah. And part of that post was like responding to that incident where Federman skipped the meeting

21:37with paralyzed veterans. I'm sure that one hit Lam a little harder. He was a Marine. He served, I think, from 2009 to 2013 active duty. And last I heard was still reserves. So these are issues that are really close to his heart for sure. Yeah. And not surprisingly, with that background, his tweet, it was pretty spicy. In particular, he said it's an insult to decent people in our state. He's treated, treated them in the office this way. So I think he really had that one, two punch of like, you got to quit and you're disrespecting people, which I would note is like that kind of language is actually maybe what people felt like they missed in the initial criticism. It's part of what we talked about on the podcast is like he wasn't, he was, he was kind of nice in his campaign with Federman. And that's not a thing I think voters were looking for in that moment. Federman captured sort of the democratic side of what people have said that they in the past liked about Trump that he'll say the blunt thing. And Connor was very, very different than that in that primary election.

22:38Yeah, I imagine if he does throw his hat in the ring, he might take a slightly different approach than he did the last time around. Yep. Then there's also US representative Brendan Boyle. He's based in Philly. He has also been discussed as a contender to run against Federman on X. He called a Federman a disgrace and said he's too lazy to do the job. There's some reporting in the post because that about a bunch of these. Yeah. And then just to add some extra intrigue to all of this, there is now a mysterious ex account that claims to have even more tea on the senator. This is at Federman staff. It says it's a former group of Federman staffers who quote are disgusted with what he's become. This popped up right after the Wall Street Journal story dropped. So the account says if you were troubled by the Wall Street Journal story, trust us. It's just the tip of the iceberg. It's even worse than you thought. This account says to set our calendars for September 14th for the first drop of information. That's the day the Senate is back in session. But then ends with the parenthetical.

23:39Let's be honest, maybe the 15th, he'll skip Monday's votes. So throw in some extra shade in there. And we'll keep following all of this. If you want to know more about anything, if you have specific questions, stuff that we can point you to, Mallory, you know, you grew up here and I've been covering Federman since I think his, it was either as run for Braddock Mayor. It may have been his reelection. I've been around the guy for a long time. There's pieces of this that don't surprise me, but there's a lot of it that genuinely does. This is not the guy I felt like I met and talked to fairly frequently back like 2015 to 2018, 19 like in that range. If we can help anyone listening, understand any of this, we don't understand everything, but we do read a lot of stories. Please let us know. And like I said, keep following this and we'll have more in our newsletter. That is all for today here on CityCast Pittsburgh. Once again, I would point people to our CityCast Pittsburgh newsletter. It's free every day, just like the podcast.

24:39You can subscribe and find more of everything CityCast at Pittsburgh dot citycast dot fm. We'll be back tomorrow with more from around the city. We'll talk to you soon.