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- Demonstrators in Long Island, New York urged incoming U.S. Congressman George Santos to resign, after he acknowledged lying about his heritage, education and professional experience. (Dec. 30) 2 By Hope Yen Published 11:08 AM PDT, January 1, 2023
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Nov 25, 2023 · He expects to be expelled less than a year after he was sworn in to Congress. Garcia urged Santos to drop his defenses and apologize, saying "a real apology would go a long way."
Jan 11, 2023 · A growing number of GOP lawmakers from New York are calling for the resignation of Rep. George Santos, the newly sworn-in member of Congress who confessed to having lied about key details of...
- Summer Concepcion
- Overview
- The charges and allegations against Santos
- The House Ethics Committee report
- The expulsion resolution
Washington — GOP Rep. George Santos of New York was expelled from the House in a bipartisan vote Friday, with dozens of his Republican colleagues joining Democrats in ousting him from Congress.
Santos has been the center of overlapping scandals since he won election last year, and he faces a slew of federal charges related to alleged fraud and campaign finance violations. The explosive allegations were detailed in a pair of federal indictments handed down earlier this year, and the House Ethics Committee issued its own scathing report earlier this month.
Santos refused repeated calls for his resignation and survived two prior attempts to remove him from office. The first attempt was led by Democrats in May after he was originally indicted by the Justice Department. Republicans renewed the expulsion effort in October following a superseding indictment. But Friday's vote of 311 to 114 made clear that his support among many of his Republican colleagues had eroded.
Here's what to know about the allegations against Santos that led to his expulsion:
Soon after Santos won a surprising victory in the 2022 midterm elections, media outlets began uncovering a multitude of lies he told about his life story, kicking off months of public scrutiny of his background.
His campaign also attracted the attention of federal prosecutors. On May 10, the Justice Department announced 13 federal charges against him, including wire fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds and making false statements to Congress.
The charges stemmed from "fraudulent schemes and brazen misrepresentations" that were meant to enrich Santos as he ran for Congress, said the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Breon Peace.
The indictment outlined three schemes that Santos was allegedly involved in.
Prosecutors said Santos defrauded campaign donors by inducing them to contribute to a limited liability company that he controlled, and then used the money for his personal expenses, including on luxury designer clothing, credit card payments and car payments.
In the second scheme, Santos applied for unemployment insurance benefits from New York state in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the indictment. Santos falsely told labor officials he was unemployed, even though he was earning about $120,000 a year from a Florida-based investment firm, the indictment said.
The Ethics Committee released a 56-page report on Nov. 16 after a monthslong investigation that uncovered similar allegations as the indictments.
Investigators said Santos allegedly stole money from his campaign, reported fictitious loans, deceived donors and engaged in fraudulent business dealings.
The report detailed "substantial evidence" of the congressman funneling campaign funds to cover personal expenses, including at luxury retailers, on cosmetic procedures and on travel.
Examples include: $4,127 at Hermès; "smaller purchases" at OnlyFans, a website that hosts adult content, and makeup store Sephora; $6,000 at Ferragamo; nearly $3,000 on Botox; and $3,332 for an Airbnb, when Santos was "off at [the] Hampton's [sic] for the weekend."
It also outlines Santos' long list of lies about his career and education.
"Representative Santos' congressional campaigns were built around his backstory as a successful man of means: a grandson of Holocaust survivors and graduate from Baruch College with a Master's in Business Administration from New York University, who went on to work at Citi Group and Goldman Sachs, owned multiple properties, and was the beneficiary of a family trust worth millions of dollars left by his mother, who passed years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks as a result of long-term health effects related to being at one of the towers," the report said. "No part of that backstory has been found to be true."
House lawmakers voted for a third time on a resolution to remove Santos from Congress on Friday. The first two attempts came before the Ethics Committee released its report, and several more Republicans indicated they would now support ousting him given the panel's findings.
For his part, Santos had said he will not seek reelection but remained defiant, accusing his fellow lawmakers before Friday's vote of rushing to expel him despite the fact that he has not been convicted of any crimes.
"It is a predetermined necessity for some members in this body to engage in this smear campaign to destroy me. I will not stand by quietly," he said on the House floor on Thursday. "They want me out of this body. The people of the 3rd District of New York sent me here. If they want me out, they have to go silence those people."
He walked out of the House chamber before the end of Friday's vote. His expulsion takes effect immediately.
- Politics Reporter
- 5 min
Jan 12, 2023 · Rep. George Santos, the newly sworn-in New York Republican under fire for fabricating large parts of his résumé, told NBC News on Thursday that "if 142 people ask for me to resign, I will...
Jan 12, 2023 · “He’s not welcome here at Republican headquarters.” Santos, swarmed by reporters at the Capitol on Wednesday, flatly rejected the call to resign, saying, “I will not.”
Jan 1, 2023 · WASHINGTON (AP) — Even as the House GOP leadership keeps silent, a veteran Republican lawmaker said Sunday that George Santos should consider resigning after the congressman-elect from New York admitted to lying about his heritage, education and professional career.
Dec 27, 2022 · Democratic lawmakers are calling for Rep.-elect George Santos to resign from the House seat he won in November, after the Long Island Republican admitted to “résumé embellishment ...
