By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior Nationwide Correspondent
GOP Rep. George Santos of New York has change into the third congressman within the final 50 years to be expelled from Capitol Hill. Santos, who has confronted allegations of lies, fraudulent actions, and weird conduct, witnessed his downfall primarily by the hands of fellow Republicans who discovered his conduct too egregious to tolerate.
Among the many fabrications, Santos falsely claimed that his mom perished throughout the Sept. 11, 2001, terror assaults and later awkwardly walked again feedback that he was Jewish, including to a litany of untruths.
His expulsion additionally follows a sweeping 23-count superseding indictment by the Division of Justice (DOJ), charging him with conspiracy, wire fraud, making false statements to the Federal Election Fee (FEC), falsifying information, aggravated id theft and entry gadget fraud.
On Dec. 1, members of Congress voted to expel him. The decision required a two-thirds majority vote to succeed. Home Speaker Mike Johnson introduced that 311 members of the Home voted to expel Santos, 114 members voted in opposition to the expulsion, and two members recorded themselves as “current.”
He’s the primary member of Congress to be expelled because the Civil Struggle who was not convicted of a felony beforehand.
Expulsion is dealt with administratively in the identical approach as a emptiness, comparable to attributable to dying or resignation, in response to a former Home parliamentarian. The Home clerk assumes management of the workplace and makes choices on behalf of that workplace. Amongst different steps, the clerk will decide the method for clearing Santos’ workplace, whereas his district workplace would stay absolutely operational to deal with the wants of its constituents.
The chamber’s clerk will inform the governor of New York that there’s now a emptiness within the third district of New York. It’s then as much as Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul to schedule a particular election to interchange him.
“We don’t know who he’s in any respect. He’s a devoted, dedicated con man within the halls of Congress and has entry to authorities secrets and techniques, to a variety of issues that may very well be damaging to this nation. He has to go,” stated Republican Rep. Brandon Williams of New York.
Santos confronted criticism from either side of the aisle. GOP Rep. Marc Molinaro stated, “George Santos is doing what each con man and 4-year-old does, which is to disregard the reality, take no duty and level at others and recommend they’re worse.”
The expulsion course of confronted preliminary uncertainty, with some questioning whether or not a vote would happen.
Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, criticized Santos and the GOP for participating in what she described as a distracting “dueling expulsion” moderately than addressing essential points just like the migrant disaster or passing a funds.
Home Ethics Committee Chair Michael Visitor, R-Miss., denounced Santos for criticizing the Ethics Committee’s report that advocated for his expulsion, stating, “George Santos would have you ever imagine that the method that he endorsed in Could is fatally flawed and that he as an alternative is the topic of a political witch hunt.”
In his protection, Santos argued that he had not been convicted of any crimes, emphasizing the dearth of precedent for expulsion with no prison conviction. Home Speaker Mike Johnson additionally expressed reservations about setting such a precedent.
Nevertheless, the DOJ’s indictment revealed a fancy scheme Santos allegedly executed throughout the election cycle. Prosecutors accused him of conspiring to acquire cash for his marketing campaign by submitting materially false experiences to the FEC and inflating marketing campaign fundraising numbers to qualify for monetary and logistical help from a nationwide occasion committee
The scheme concerned falsely reporting important monetary contributions from members of the family, by no means making loans, and misrepresenting monetary stability. “Santos allegedly led a number of further fraudulent prison schemes, mendacity to the American public within the course of,” stated FBI Assistant Director-in-Cost James Smith.
Added Breon Peace, the U.S. legal professional for the Japanese District of New York, “Santos is charged with stealing individuals’s identities and making prices on his personal donors’ bank cards with out their authorization, mendacity to the FEC and, by extension, the general public in regards to the monetary state of his marketing campaign. Santos falsely inflated the marketing campaign’s reported receipts with non-existent loans and contributions that had been both fabricated or stolen.”
Santos, elected to Congress final November, was sworn in because the U.S. consultant for New York’s Third Congressional District on Jan. 7, 2023.
