A group of House Republicans from New York is introducing a resolution to expel New York Republican Rep. George Santos from Congress.
“Today I will introduce an expulsion resolution to remove fraudster Jorge Santos from the House of People,” New York Rep. Anthony D’Esposito posted on social media platform X.
He told reporters he considered Santos a “stain” on the House and New York state. “It’s time we get rid of Jorge Santos,” D’Esposito said.
He said the resolution will be co-sponsored by New York House Republicans Nick LaLotta, Mike Lawler, Mark Molinaro, Nick Langworthy and Brandon Williams.
LaLotta said he considered Santos an “unethical” and “untrustworthy” person. “The sooner he leaves, the better,” he said.
Launching Santos would require a two-thirds vote of the entire House, a benchmark LaLotta seemed confident would be met. “I predict this resolution will cause a stir. A lot of people will feel what we’re doing,” he said.
A day earlier, federal prosecutors issued a 23-count superseding indictment against Santos charging him with identity theft, fraud and other crimes. Santos, who was first indicted in May, said he planned to contest the charges. He pleaded not guilty to charges in an original 13-count indictment earlier this year.
“If they want to be the judge, jury and arbitrator of the whole damn thing, let them do it,” Santos said in response to the resolution as he ran back to his office after the Republican meeting. “They just want to silence the people of the Third Congressional District,” he said later.
Santos’ fellow New York Republicans had previously called for his resignation amid criminal charges and revelations that he had fabricated much of his resume.
“I said he should resign, and he should still resign,” Molinaro said in a statement. Post on X after the additional charges were announced on Tuesday.
House Democrats introduced a motion to expel Santos in May after he was initially charged, but Republicans voted to refer their motion to the House Ethics Committee, which has been investigating Santos since March.
D’Esposito said he and his colleagues have waited long enough. “I know the Ethics Department is a little busy, but, you know, it’s time that we see some results,” he said.
Santos first came under scrutiny before he was sworn in late last year when The New York Times published an explosive investigation that showed much of his resume appeared to be fabricated, including claims that he owned numerous properties and had previously been employed by Goldman Sachs and Citigroup and graduated from Baruch College.
It also raises questions about how he was able to loan his campaign $700,000 after claiming on campaign finance forms that he was making $55,000 a year during his failed bid in early 2020.
Santos admitted to “embellishing” parts of his background but insisted he did nothing criminal and made the money legally.
The indictment unsealed in May said he had been using campaign donations for personal expenses, including designer clothing, applied for pandemic unemployment benefits when he was earning $120,000 a year and lied about his income in House finance documents.
On Tuesday, he was hit with 10 additional charges accusing him of stealing people’s identities, charging his own donor credit cards without their authorization, and “falsely inflating the campaign with fabricated or stolen loans and donations that did not exist.” Reported receipts,” said Breon Peace, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
One of the alleged schemes included falsely claiming that 10 of Santos’ relatives and his then-campaign treasurer, Nancy Marks, had donated large sums of money to his campaign, making it appear that he had raised more money than he actually had. to be eligible for aid from the National Party.
“Both Santos and Marquez knew that these individuals neither made the reported contributions nor authorized the inclusion of their personal information in such false public reports,” prosecutors said.
Marks pleaded guilty last week to related conspiracy charges. Santos was released on $500,000 bail after pleading not guilty to the initial charges and is due to appear in court again on October 27.
Santos called the charges against him a “witch hunt” and vowed not to resign.
