Washington — GOP Rep. George Santos of New York could be expelled from the House on Friday as he faces a slew of federal charges and explosive allegations that were detailed in a House Ethics Committee report released earlier this month.
Santos has survived two prior attempts to remove him from office this year and has refused repeated calls for his resignation.
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 the latest effort is the greatest threat yet to his brief congressional career, which has been defined by overlapping scandals from the start.
The charges and allegations against Santos
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 had also attracted the attention of federal prosecutors, and the Justice Department announced 13 federal charges against him on May 10, including wire fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds and making false statements to Congress.
Santos Faces Charges for Fraudulent Schemes and Misrepresentations
The U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Breon Peace, has announced charges against Santos for engaging in fraudulent schemes and brazen misrepresentations in an attempt to enrich himself during his congressional campaign.
Three Schemes
The indictment outlines three schemes that Santos allegedly participated in. The first scheme involved defrauding campaign donors by persuading them to contribute to a limited liability company under his control. Santos then used the funds for personal expenses, including luxury designer clothing, credit card payments, and car payments.
The second scheme involved Santos applying for unemployment insurance benefits from New York state during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite earning a substantial income from a Florida-based investment firm, Santos falsely claimed to be unemployed in order to receive the benefits.
The third scheme involved Santos misleading Congress about his financial circumstances by filing false disclosure statements as part of his congressional campaigns.
Additional Charges
In October, Santos was hit with an additional 10 counts, including conspiracy to commit offenses against the U.S., wire fraud, making false statements to the Federal Election Commission, falsifying records, aggravated identity theft, and access device fraud.
Charges
Santos is currently charged with:
- Fraudulent schemes
- Brazen misrepresentations
- Conspiracy to commit offenses against the U.S.
- Wire fraud
- Making false statements to the Federal Election Commission
- Falsifying records
- Aggravated identity theft
- Access device fraud
- Conspiracy to commit offenses against the United States
- Wire fraud (two counts)
- Making materially false statements to the Federal Election Commission (two counts)
- Falsifying records submitted to obstruct the FEC (two counts)
- Aggravated identity theft (two counts)
- Access device fraud
- Wire fraud (seven counts)
- Money laundering (three counts)
- Theft of public funds
- Making materially false statements to the United States House of Representatives (two counts)
In the latest indictment, Santos has been accused of engaging in a conspiracy to commit various offenses against the United States. This includes wire fraud, making false statements to the Federal Election Commission, falsifying records to obstruct the FEC, aggravated identity theft, access device fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds, and making false statements to the United States House of Representatives.
According to prosecutors, Santos allegedly stole the identities of his campaign donors and used their credit cards without authorization. The funds obtained were then used to benefit his campaign and for personal expenses. Some of the money was even transferred to Santos' own bank account.
The superseding indictment also reveals a number of specific unauthorized charges made by Santos. These include $4,127 at Hermès, smaller purchases at OnlyFans and Sephora, $6,000 at Ferragamo, nearly $3,000 on Botox, and $3,332 for an Airbnb stay while Santos was supposedly in the Hamptons for the weekend.
In addition to the financial misconduct, the indictment highlights Santos' history of dishonesty regarding his career and education.
Santos has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges and is scheduled to stand trial in September.
The Expulsion Resolution
In a recent turn of events, Congressman Santos finds himself at the center of controversy as his fellow lawmakers push for his expulsion from office. Despite not being convicted of any crimes, Santos is facing mounting pressure from his colleagues.
While Santos has announced that he will not seek reelection, he remains defiant in the face of the expulsion resolution. During a passionate speech on the House floor, he accused his fellow lawmakers of engaging in a smear campaign to destroy him.
"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," Santos declared. "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."
