Republican Legislators Move to Expel GOP Congressman

Republican lawmakers intend to introduce a resolution to expel Rep. George Santos (R-NY) from Congress.

“George Santos’ many deceptions coupled with the ever-expanding legal case against him further strengthen my long held belief that he is unfit to serve in Congress, and for that reason, I will be sponsoring a resolution to immediately expel George Santos from the House of Representatives,” Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (R-NY) stated.

I will be introducing legislation to expel George Santos from Congress. pic.twitter.com/ai4tJxzBZs

— Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (@RepDesposito) October 11, 2023

“I said he should resign and he should still resign,” said Rep. Marc Molinaro (R-NY).

I said he should resign and he should still resign. https://t.co/GmxD4FP5T8

— Rep. Marc Molinaro (@RepMolinaroNY19) October 10, 2023

The move comes after the U.S. Department of Justice filed a new indictment against Santos.

Department of Justice Charges GOP Congressman with Wire Fraud, Aggravated Identity Theft & More

The Associated Press reports:

The 23-count indictment replaces one filed earlier against the New York Republican charging him with embezzling money from his campaign and lying to Congress about his wealth, among other offenses.

The new charges include allegations that he charged more than $44,000 to his campaign over a period of months using cards belonging to contributors without their knowledge. In one case, he charged $12,000 to a contributor’s credit card and transferred the “vast majority” of that money into his personal bank account, prosecutors said.

Santos is also accused of falsely reporting to the Federal Elections Commission that he had loaned $500,000 to his campaign in an attempt to convince Republican Party officials that he was a serious candidate, when he actually had less than $8,000 in his personal accounts.

“As alleged, Santos is charged with stealing people’s identities and making charges on his own donors’ credit cards without their authorization, lying to the FEC and, by extension, the public about the financial state of his campaign,” U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement.

ALERT: Superseding indictment against Rep George Santos (R-NY). He now faces *23* charges, including conspiracy & fraud. Feds: “Santos allegedly led multiple additional fraudulent criminal schemes, lying to the American public in the process.” pic.twitter.com/oGK4O84jo0

— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) October 10, 2023

Santos refused to comment when confronted by the media about the indictment.

WATCH:

Facing a superseding indictment with 10 new counts, Rep. Santos says, "No comment" and that he did not have access to his phone during the speaker forum.

"I have no clue of what you guys are talking about."

(📸 via colleague @casssemyon) pic.twitter.com/1ZywRdo4K1

— Kevin Frey (@KevinFreyTV) October 10, 2023

NBC News reports:

He said the resolution will be co-sponsored by fellow New York House Republicans Nick LaLota, Mike Lawler, Marc Molinaro, Nick Langworthy and Brandon Williams.

LaLota said he considers Santos an "immoral" and "untrustworthy" person. "The sooner he's gone, the better," he said.

Booting Santos would require a two-thirds vote of the entire House, a benchmark LaLota seemed confident of meeting. "I predict this resolution is going to catch fire. Many people feel how we do," he said.

The move comes a day after federal prosecutors issued Santos a 23-count superseding indictment alleging he committed identity theft, fraud and other offenses. Santos, who was first indicted in May, has said he plans on fighting the charges. He pleaded not guilty to the charges in the original 13-count indictment earlier this year.

“If they want to be judge, jury and arbitrator of the whole God damn thing let them do it,” Santos said, responding to the resolution as he ran to his office from a Republican conference meeting. “They just want to silence the people of the 3rd congressional district,” he said later.

Santos's New York GOP colleagues had previously called for him to step down in light of the criminal charges and revelations that he'd fabricated large parts of his resume.

Santos has vowed not to resign and called the indictment against him a "witch hunt."