A Rejoinder of George Santos: What Happens When a New York Rep. Votees Off the Island

Allow me to express my appreciation to the lawmakers who defrocked GeorgeSantos. It takes a lot to get booted from the House by one’s colleagues, but the New York Republican really applied himself. And while his 11 very weird months in office were a stain on American democracy, here’s hoping his departure serves to reassure a politically disillusioned nation that there is a level of deception, corruption and lunacy too extra even for Congress. It reminds us that most lawmakers are still capable of doing the right thing on special occasions.

Soaking in the carnival of media attention that has stalked him since he arrived in DC in 2022, Santos—taking one last stand as a solo act this week—was predictably unmuzzled in the hours leading up to the vote that would decide his political future. “It’s theater for the cameras, it’s theater for the microphones,” he said, referring to the playhouse of American bureaucracy and, ironically, himself. “It’s theater for the American people at the expense of the American people.”

The process played out as it should. Lawmakers are wise to chart a small-c conservative path when expelling someone. There is a reason Mr. Santos was the third member to vote off the island. Lawmakers should uphold high ethical standards, and they aren’t above the law. Don’t laugh! It is up to them to hold them accountable.

Only in the most egregious cases should other Legislators move to impose their will over voters, and only after due process. Without clear triggers — such as a criminal conviction or a meticulous report by a bipartisan committee tasked with such matters — the temptation to wield expulsion like a partisan weapon would become overwhelming. I mean, it’s bad enough that Marjorie Taylor Greene has taken to filing articles of impeachment against anyone who looks at her funny.

Many have said that they will. Among them, fellow freshman New York lawmakers who represent districts that President Biden won in the 2020 presidential election and thus could be vulnerable in the next election cycle.

Some in the Republican conference, though, will likely remain in Santos’ corner. They include Clay Higgins of Louisiana, who described the report released by the Republican-led House Ethics Committee as politically biased and a character assassination.

Biden won the district by 10 points in 2020, and Santos is a Republican in the House. It is possible that a few Republicans will vote to keepSantos in office in order to protect themselves from a Democrat winning back the seat.

The investigation of a New York congressman facing a federal criminal charge against George Santos, the first lawmaker to be expelled from the House of Representatives

The House Ethics Committee supported many of the allegations in the indictments, according to a report released before the Thanksgiving holiday.

The congressman is accused of a number of financial crimes, including reimbursing himself for loans to his congressional campaign that he appears to have never made, and stealing money from campaign donors.

The Republican from New York is facing nearly two dozen federal criminal charges — and will face a vote on his expulsion from the House of Representatives on Friday.

Speaker Mike Johnson says that his leadership team will not try to pressure the Republicans to vote in a certain way on the expulsion motion.

There is a resolution put forward that would expel Santos from the house of representatives. If the motion succeeds, it would be the sixth time in history that a representative had been fired by his colleagues.

He wants to put other lawmakers on the record for setting a dangerous precedent. Santos would be the first lawmaker in modern history to be expelled before being convicted of a crime.

Santos is denying criminal wrongdoing. The lawmaker said that he was like Mary Magdalene and accused his colleagues of trying to “stone him” out of politics.

A House Ethics Committee report released last month echoes many of the allegations levied against Santos by prosecutors and accuses Santos of stonewalling investigators by neglecting to turn over promised documents.

Source: George Santos could soon be expelled from Congress

A report by J. E. Santos on allegations of financial fraud and criminal activity during his congressional campaign for a high-paid job

The additional 10 charges were added by prosecutors after a plea deal by the former campaign finance official associated with the campaign.

In October, a report filed by the House Ethics Committee claimed that Santos had overstepped his authority as a member of Congress, accusing him on multiple counts of financial fraud and criminal activity. The ethics report determined that Santos—among other misdeeds that already included charges of wire fraud and conspiracy—used campaign funds on Botox, the adult subscription site OnlyFans, and luxury Ferragamo shoes (select pairs sell for more than $2,000). Santos said that the report was very much true to form.

The 35-year-old lied about being a volleyball star at the college, as well as being a Goldman Sachs and Citigroup employee, and he later changed his story.

The North Shore Leader, a newspaper in Santos’ Long Island district, originally raised questions about claims Santos made during his campaign where he estimated his net worth at roughly $11 million. There were more allegations published in the New York Times.

The Reality of Politics is, It Is All Theater, and President Donald Trump is Sustained from Expulsion by a High-Energy Senator

American politics is a circus. In the arena of Washington, DC, lawmaking and lawbreaking is a fanatical kind of entertainment. Republicans have thrived on a diet of chaos since the rise of former president Donald Trump, turning the performance of democracy into primetime viewing. “The reality of it is, it’s all theater,” Representative George Santos of New York said on Thursday during a press conference on the steps of the US Capitol as he faced expulsion from Congress.