Fetterman rocked by latest staff upheaval amid spiraling health concerns

Daily Mail​

4 days ago

Another key staffer has departed John Fetterman's office amid the Pennsylvania Senator's reported mental health issues.
A blockbuster New York Magazine feature last month painted the Pennsylvania Senator as not well and behaving erratically since being treated for depression.
Further tales have been published since, including an old video of Fetterman behaving poorly on a plane and driving a staffer to tears with an outburst during a meeting with union representatives.
Fetterman has consistently lashed out at the story as a 'one source hit piece' but in its wake, several staffers have left him.
That continued Tuesday as Fetterman's Chief of Staff, Krysta Sinclair Juris, announced her departure.
Juris replaced Adam Jentleson, who Fetterman has identified as the 'one source' who went on the record about his alleged experiences with the Senator in the magazine piece.
The Senator painted her departure as amicable in a statement.
'I'm grateful for Krysta's work. She's been an invaluable member of the team for over two years and I wish her all the best.'
Cabelle St. John, Fetterman's former deputy chief of staff, senior adviser and scheduling director, is taking over the job from Juris.
'Cabelle St. John has been a trusted advisor since day 1 in the office. I'm lucky to have her taking over as my Chief of Staff and I'm confident she'll do a great job,' he said.
The news comes after the latest criticism of Fetterman was published this past weekend, suggesting he is an absentee Senator during a debate with Republican Dave McCormick.
The Philadelphia Inquirer - one of Pennsylvania's more prominent home state newspapers - told him to step aside.
In an opinion piece published by the paper's editorial board Sunday, Fetterman was told 'to serve Pennsylvanians, or step away' due to what the board believes is a neglect of his duties as a U.S. Senator.
Fetterman was bashed for missing votes, and for his lack of travel around the Commonwealth.
Fetterman responded that the votes he has missed have been 'procedural' in nature, adding: 'At this point I'm hearing I'm doing that job, I'm defending on all those things and all of those important votes, I've always been there.'
'We all know those votes that I've missed were on Monday. Those are travel days, and I have three young kids and I, those are throwaway procedural votes that there were never determinative. They were important. That's a choice that I made,' Fetterman concluded.
The bombshell story in New York Magazine features several concerning accusations about Fetterman's behavior, including not taking medicine prescribed after he spent time in a mental health facility in 2023.
Only one staffer would go public with the claims and Fetterman has personally denied them. Some of the anonymous staffers shared marital strife and political disagreements with his wife Gisele.
Former Chief of Staff Adam Jentleson is the most public face of the story, titled 'The Hidden Struggle of John Fetterman.'
One year after Fetterman's release from the traumatic-brain-injury and neuropsychiatry unit at Walter Reed Hospital, Jentleson wrote a letter the division's director who treated Fetterman there.
'I think John is on a bad trajectory and I'm really worried about him,' Jentleson wrote in the 1,600-word email with the subject line: 'Concerns.'
He added that the senator 'won't be with us for much longer' if he doesn't change his behavior, with Jentleson claiming these are 'the things you said to flag, so I am flagging.'
One of the things he was told to flag: that Fetterman purchased a gun, though Jentleson admits the senator 'takes all the necessary precautions, and living where he does I understand the desire for personal protection.'
Jentleson is referring to the hard-scrabble small town of Braddock where Fetterman served as mayor and still lives.
Fetterman is accused of everything from the physical - 'not taking his meds' to eating fast food multiple times a day - to the mental - lying, 'self-centered monologues,' 'conspiratorial thinking; megalomania' - among his issues.
The senator is also allegedly obsessed with social media despite admitting it was an 'accelerant' of his depression and driving 'recklessly' to the point that staffers refused to ride with him and a police officer said it was 'a miracle no one died' after one accident last June.
Jentleson also argued that 'every person who was supposed to help him stay on his recovery plan has been pushed out.'
The former chief of staff later said in an interview a year after writing the letter that he's telling his side of the story because he believes Fetterman's trajectory has taken him out of consideration to lead the Democrats going forward.
'Part of the tragedy here is that this is a man who could be leading Democrats out of the wilderness but I also think he's struggling in a way that shouldn't be hidden from the public.'
Quite the opposite, as The Intercept recently reported that Fetterman's campaign is bleeding money and losing small-dollar donors ever since his meeting with Trump.
The author, Ben Terris, spoke to Fetterman ahead of publication and got a text message from him asking: 'Why is this a story?
He added that the number of staffers leaving is typical for Washington and he is the 'best version' of himself right now.
Fetterman also denied claims that towards the beginning of his first term, he had to be spoken with for 'an hour' with staffers 'trying to trying to convince him, to talk him out of some crazy fantasy' that he wouldn't be allowed in the Senate.
He also said there is no truth to accusations that he began to 'sour' on his own party after bipartisan efforts to prevent him from wearing his trademark hoodie and shorts to the Senate floor.
Things became somewhat more complicated when asked about arguments over Gaza and meeting with Donald Trump with his wife Gisele, herself having come to the U.S. as an illegal migrant.
Fetterman called their disagreements 'very common in political marriage' and said Gisele 'has her own voice.
Gisele, for her part, told New York Magazine that Jentleson is trying to harm her husband and lied to her about his health.