Ex-Fetterman Aide Raised Concerns About Senator's Mental Health with Doctor

 The former chief of staff to Senator John Fetterman, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, became deeply concerned about his former boss's erratic behavior last year. Alarmed by the senator’s deteriorating condition, he wrote a detailed letter to Fetterman’s doctor, warning that the senator’s mental health was worsening and could ultimately cost him his life.

“I’m worried that if John continues down his current path, he may not be with us for much longer,” Adam Jentleson, the ex-chief of staff, wrote on May 20 to the doctor who had treated Mr. Fetterman at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

Fetterman’s behavior, according to aides still close to him, remains troubling at times. Several former staff members, speaking anonymously, have revealed that some colleagues were scared to be around him when he was particularly agitated.

They have also been cautioned never to ride with him if he’s driving due to his dangerous habits behind the wheel. His unpredictable and alarming conduct, which staff noticed worsening last year, has only escalated since the election, according to people who have spent time with him. This coincides with a period in which Fetterman’s political views have become more conservative, in response to Pennsylvania’s shift towards Trump in recent elections.

“He does not see his doctors,” Jentleson wrote last year to the medical director overseeing Fetterman’s 2023 hospitalization for mental health issues. “I’m not sure when he last saw a cardiologist, but I don’t think he has seen one since being discharged. He ordered us to stop scheduling regular visits with Dr. Monahan, even though he had initially agreed to them as part of his plan.” Dr. Brian P. Monahan is the Navy doctor who has been the on-site physician for nearly 15 years at the Capitol.

Jentleson’s letter, which was obtained by The New York Times, was initially reported by New York Magazine.