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NY Rep. George Santos faces expulsion from Congress (again)
By
Jon Campbell
Published Nov 17, 2023
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Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images
By
Jon Campbell
Published Nov 17, 2023
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Embattled Rep. George Santos is facing yet another attempt to expel him from the U.S. House of Representatives — and this time it might take.
Rep. Michael Guest, a Mississippi Republican who chairs the House ethics committee, says he filed a resolution Friday morning to kick Santos out of Congress, clearing the way for the House to consider the measure after members return from their Thanksgiving break.
The resolution comes a day after a House subcommittee investigating Santos issued a report finding “substantial evidence” the lawmaker knowingly committed ethics violations and potentially broke the law — including by spending his campaign funds on credit card debt, OnlyFans purchases and skin care. The subcommittee forwarded its report to the full House and the Justice Department for review.
In a statement, Guest said the evidence from the investigation is “more than sufficient to warrant punishment and the most appropriate punishment, is expulsion.”
Santos, a Republican who represents parts of Queens and Nassau County, came under scrutiny weeks before being sworn into office for lying about much of his professional resume and personal history. He lied that he was a “proud American Jew,” that his grandparents fled the Holocaust, and that his mother died on 9/11. He also lied that he’d graduated from Baruch College and won a championship on the school’s volleyball team, among many other tall tales now investigated by the subcommittee.
Santos has pleaded not guilty to 23 federal charges, including identity theft, credit card fraud, and stealing campaign funds.
He responded to the official ethics report by declaring he would not run for re-election in 2024. But that announcement wasn’t enough to ward off the latest expulsion effort.
A previous attempt on Nov. 1 to expel Santos from Congress failed, largely because some congressmembers said it would set a bad precedent to boot him before the ethics probe concluded.
Now, some lawmakers who did not vote in favor of expelling Santos – including Guest, who abstained at the time – said they were ready to kick him out.
Long Island Rep. Andrew Garbarino, a Republican ethics committee member who didn’t vote on the earlier resolution, said he is now in favor of expulsion.
Staten Island Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, also a Republican, voted against the previous resolution, but now says she’ll support expelling Santos after the ethics report.
“I believe it’s not enough for Santos to simply say he won’t seek re-election,” Malliotakis said. “He should immediately resign or be expelled so his constituents can be represented by someone who isn’t a fraud.”
In a statement posted to X late Thursday, Santos promised to hold a Nov. 30 press conference on the steps of the Capitol. He accused the ethics committee of trying to “poison the jury pool on my ongoing investigation with the DOJ.”
“I will continue to fight for what I believe in and I will never back down,” he wrote.
The House is scheduled to return to Washington on Nov. 29.
Tagged
ethics
George Santos
long island
nicole malliotakis
Congress
queens
Politics
republicans
Jon Campbell
Jon Campbell covers the New York State Capitol for WNYC and Gothamist. Prior to that, he covered the Capitol for more than a decade for the USA TODAY Network. He has twice earned the Walter T. Brown Memorial Award, an honor given annually by the Legislative Correspondents Association alumni for outstanding state government coverage. Jon grew up in the Buffalo area and graduated from the University at Albany. Got a tip? Email Jon at [email protected] or Signal at JonCampbellNY.90.
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