This week, scandal-plagued Rep. George Santos (R-NY) will possible face one other Home expulsion vote. He’s been right here earlier than. In Might and in early November, the Home thought of expulsion measures, solely to have the respective resolutions defeated. This time, nonetheless, might be completely different: Whereas many members had balked earlier than, momentum is constructing to make Santos the primary Home lawmaker in 20 years to be expelled.
As Santos put it in an X Areas occasion on Friday: “I’ve performed the maths again and again, and it doesn’t look actually good.”
The outcomes of a greater than eight-month investigation by the Home Ethics Committee set any upcoming vote aside from the sooner two. That report discovered “substantial proof” that Santos broke federal legislation and that he “fraudulently exploit[ed] each side of his Home candidacy for his personal private monetary revenue.”
These findings, which add to myriad reporting about his invented work historical past, lies about his upbringing and schooling, and a federal indictment over wire fraud and identification theft, have been sufficient to change the minds of a few of his colleagues.
“I didn’t vote prior to now to expel George as a result of I didn’t imagine there was due course of,” Colorado Rep. Ken Buck, a Republican who had beforehand opposed expelling Santos, informed MSNBC. “I believe he’s been given the truthful due course of now.”
Santos has known as the report’s findings “biased” and a “politicized smear” created by colleagues who need him out of workplace. He informed individuals within the X Area that an expulsion vote wouldn’t be about any fees he could face, however that, “I’ll be expelled as a result of folks merely didn’t like me.”
Santo has lengthy maintained that he hasn’t dedicated any crimes, and pleaded “not responsible” to a 23-count federal indictment in a case that can go to trial subsequent 12 months. He has, nonetheless, introduced he gained’t be working for reelection subsequent 12 months, which means he has one 12 months left on his time period if he’s not expelled.
If he’s faraway from the Home, Santos could be simply the sixth Home member in historical past to face this penalty, and he’d get replaced by way of a particular election in his New York district. The expulsion would require two-thirds of the Home to vote in favor, or roughly 290 members, for it to move.
Whether or not sufficient of his fellow lawmakers would again an expulsion this time round continues to be unsure, although it’s trying more likely than in previous votes. Santos acknowledged this prospect in his Areas dialog, saying, “I do know I’m going to get expelled when this expulsion decision goes to the ground.”
What the ethics investigation mentioned and the way it modified issues
The largest sport changer in Santos’s case is the ethics investigation, which was launched in mid-November shortly earlier than the Thanksgiving vacation. In it, a bipartisan group of lawmakers concluded that Santos “blatantly stole from his marketing campaign” and that he used marketing campaign funds for private achieve and companies together with Botox, OnlyFans, and luxurious journeys.
Moreover, they discovered he misrepresented using these funds to donors and sought to cowl up how this cash was spent. The lawmakers referred Santos’s case to the Justice Division for any potential penalties, and shortly after the report’s launch, Home Ethics Chair Michael Visitor (R-MS) filed a decision for Santos’s expulsion.
Previous to its launch, quite a lot of Home Republicans had mentioned they’d wait till the ethics report got here out earlier than they drew definitive conclusions about Santos. These findings had been explosive sufficient that they’ve satisfied a few of these Republicans to firmly state their assist for expulsion. Reps. Greg Murphy (R-NC), Stephanie Bice (R-OK), and Dusty Johnson (R-SD) are amongst those that’ve modified their positions.
“I purposely waited for the outcomes of the Ethics Committee’s report to come back out earlier than passing judgment,” mentioned Murphy in a press release. “Nonetheless, given its findings of the information of this case, I discover his conduct reprehensible and never worthy of a member of Congress. I’ll vote to expel him.”
“The quantity of fraud and abuse was one thing that was unprecedented. We’ve by no means seen that earlier than,” Visitor, who had additionally voted towards Santos’s expulsion previous to the report, informed SuperTalk Mississippi Radio.
The investigation’s outcomes add to a complete slew of federal fees and scandals that Santos faces, together with the 23-count federal indictment that fees him with identification theft, wire fraud, bank card fraud, and cash laundering. That indictment accuses him of constructing fees on donors’ bank cards with out their data and fabricating information about loans and contributions his marketing campaign acquired.
Past the federal fees he faces, Santos has additionally been scrutinized for mendacity extensively about his previous, together with claiming that he had attended Baruch School, that he had labored at Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, and that he had Jewish ancestry, all of which have been debunked.
Previously, Republicans have balked at voting to expel Santos not simply because the ethics investigation was ongoing however as a result of his district is a aggressive one. Santos gained the Lengthy Island and Queens district by eight factors in 2022, and if he’s expelled it’s doable that Democrats might retake it. The Prepare dinner Political Report has his district rated as leaning Democratic in 2024.
There’s additionally nonetheless an opportunity that Santos by some means clings onto his seat even in any case of those developments.
Santos has mentioned he’ll stand for a Home vote on expulsion if one is delivered to the ground, however Home Speaker Mike Johnson has additionally alluded to completely different “choices” accessible for the lawmaker. And though quite a lot of Republicans and Democrats who beforehand voted towards expulsion have now mentioned they’d vote in favor of it, it’s not assured that this quantity will clear the two-thirds required threshold.
That mentioned, prospects for Santos are trying the grimmest for him since he was elected.
