Congressman George Santos leaves the US Capitol after the vote on May 11, 2023.
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Congressman George Santos leaves the US Capitol after the vote on May 11, 2023.
Win McNamee/Getty Images
Today, a House Democrat announced plans to force a secret vote on a resolution to expel Representative George Santos from Congress, less than a week after the first term of the Republican congressman. did not plead guilty to fraud.
A sentence Resolution introduced by California Representative Robert Garcia as an icon; The measure is expected to fail but will force House Republicans to overtake their colleagues from New York.
“George Santos is a fraud and liar, and he needs to be expelled by the House of Representatives,” Garcia said in a statement. “Republicans now have a chance to prove to Americans that an admitted criminal should not serve in the House.”
The proposal is a privileged resolution that, when introduced by a rank-and-file member of the House of Representatives, would trigger a due process vote in the next two days, although Republicans could still block it. block this measure. Any deportation petition requires a two-thirds vote. But any attempt by the GOP to block or introduce a resolution would still mean the House would vote.
Santos, whose office did not immediately respond to the NPR’s inquiry into his response to the resolution, previously asserted his innocence and insisted he would remain in Congress.
In a statement after the resolution was passed, DCCC Chairman Suzan DelBene said “it is time for New Yorkers to get the honest representation they deserve. Now is the time for National Members to Congress to show their position and expel George Santos from Congress.”
Santos, who has faced calls to resign from members of his own party, pleaded not guilty last week to federal fraud charges. you face 13 counts of criminal wrongdoingincluding wire fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds and making false statements before the House of Commons.
“This indictment seeks to hold Santos accountable for numerous alleged fraud schemes and blatant misinformation,” U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement.
“Taken together, the charges in the indictment accuse Santos of relying on deception and repeated deception to get to the chambers of Congress and enrich himself,” he added. “He used political donations to pocket money, illegally applied for unemployment benefits that were supposed to go to New Yorkers who lost their jobs due to the pandemic, and lied to the House of Representatives. .”
Santos is issued on a bond worth $500,000.
The day after Santos pleaded not guilty, he appear from afar in a criminal court for a separate case in Brazil. New York Times first report that the struggling congressman signed an agreement with Brazilian prosecutors that he would confess to stealing checks to buy clothes and other goods in 2008 and pay nearly $5,000 in fines.
In January, Santos voluntarily left his committee amid outcry over his fabricated biography and ongoing questions surrounding his personal finances and campaign. .
At that time, Santos tell my GOP colleagues in a caucus meeting that he was not pressured by Speaker McCarthy to do so, but felt staying on committees was what distracted his colleagues.
In March, the House Ethics Committee announced it would open an official investigation to check if Santos “engaged in illegal activity” during his 2022 election campaign. Democrats are being forced to vote before the ethics panel finishes their investigation. Typically, eviction recommendations come from an investigative panel on the House ethics committee and are dedicated to serious misconduct. The last legislator to be expelled from the House was Representative Jim Traficant, D-Ohio, in 2002 and his expulsion after he was convicted of a number of crimes and the ethics committee recommended official about this.
McCarthy said last week that he would not support Santos’ re-election and said he would call for his resignation pending the outcome of the ongoing ethics investigation.
