John Fetterman Criticizes Pennsylvania Gov. Shapiro's 'Political Ambition' In New Book

Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman criticized the state's governor, fellow Democrat Josh Shapiro, for being too focused on his "political ambition" in his approach to criminal justice, according to a new report.

Axios noted that Fetterman made the claim in his new book "Unfettered," which was released on Tuesday. Fetterman said that his relationship with Shapiro began to sour when the former was lieutenant governor and the latter attorney general.

The clash revolved around Shapiro's decisions on the state's Board of Pardons, with Fetterman wanting to show more leniency than Shapiro, even getting to a point where the former called the latter a "f---ing a--hole" on a hot microphone.

"I truly believed with all my heart that nobody I ever supported for a pardon was a danger to society," Fetterman said in a passage of the book. "I was willing to stake my political career on it," he added.

Fetterman then noted that Shapiro was "far more cautious, and at a certain point, I began to think that what was influencing him was not mere caution but political ambition." He then noted that he believes Shapiro "did what he felt was right." "Our dispute was philosophical," he added.

In another passage of the book, Fetterman said "you could just tell Shapiro was on the move. As [former] Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter once put it, 'Everybody knows that Josh has wanted to be governor since he was in fifth grade.' "A spokesman for Shapiro declined to respond to Axios about Fetterman's comments in the book.