Goodbye, George.
Rep. Lying Long Islander George Santos (R-NY) became the sixth member to be expelled from the US House of Representatives on Friday, a little more than a year after he won election despite his extensive personal and professional history, lying about his campaign finances and defrauding donors.
The House voted 311-114 to oust the 35-year-old Republican, with 105 other GOP lawmakers supporting his removal.
All but seven House Democrats voted to boot Santos, with Bobby Scott of Virginia and Nikema Williams of Georgia opposing the measure and Al Green of Texas and Jonathan Jackson of Illinois present for the vote.
Eight members, including former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Bronx and Queens Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, did not vote.
“The clerk will inform the governor of the state of New York of the action of the House,” Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) announced solemnly as silence fell over the chamber. “The total number of the House is now 434.”
Gov. Kathy Hocul said she is “ready to take on the serious responsibility of filling the void” in statement posted to X.
By law, Hochul must announce a special election within 10 days to be held no more than 90 days after a vacancy.
Santos became the sixth member expelled from the House. AFP via Getty Images
Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) was outraged by the decision, telling reporters that any member could face removal in the future based on “the likes of a random politician.”
“That’s how the Roman Republic fell. And if we continue to act like this, that’s how this republic will fall,” Donalds said.
“I’m upset that you’re talking about taking away what makes us the greatest country in the world,” he said. “And it was not George Santos’s actions. It is the fact that everyone is given their time in court, and that was denied to him.”
“Are we now going to tell every American that if you are accused of something, you will be fired immediately? Is that now going to be the standard in the United States?” Donald added.
Rep. Staten Island’s Nicole Malliotakis said she “has faith” in the Nassau County Republican Party to field a winning candidate and keep the seat in GOP hands.
“It’s up to the voters … whether Republicans hold this seat,” Malliotakis said. “But certainly just to keep somebody here who is defiling the institution and doing this wrong thing just because we want that extra vote — that’s not the right thing. We have to vote our conscience.”
Three hundred and eleven representatives, both Democrats and Republicans, voted to expel George Santos. Reuters
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) said the decision poses “a very serious problem” for the Republican Party.
“They have declared new ethical standards, yet they all stand their ground [former President] Donald Trump, who lied about winning the presidential election … and then tried to overturn the “election” and violate our constitutional order,” Raskin said.
Santos, who avoided two previous elimination votes earlier this year, told “Fox & Friends” hours before the vote that he had “accepted his destiny.”
“I believe that if God wants to keep me here, I will stay and if … it is His will for me to go, I will go and I will do well,” he said.
Santos watched the vote from the back of the hall with his coat draped over his shoulders. When his fate became clear, he left the Capitol and got into a waiting car.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who expressed “real reservations” earlier in the week about voting to impeach Santos, told reporters shortly before the vote was cast that he would not support the congressman’s removal.
Rep. George Santos, R-NY, walks from his office to the US Capitol in Washington, DC. AFP via Getty Images
He has also urged Members of the State Assembly “to vote their conscience,” stressing that there are “good faith” arguments for and against Santos’ removal.
Every other member of the House GOP leadership also revealed they would oppose removal less than an hour before the vote.
“No Congressman has ever been dismissed without conviction; this is a dangerous precedent and I voted no based on my concerns about due process,” House GOP Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik of New York said to X.
Representative Max Miller (R-Ohio) disclosed in email obtained by Punchbowl News that he was, in fact, one of the donors that Santos had defrauded, saying he respected the other members’ decisions but that he would vote for Santos’ removal.
Friday’s vote followed a scathing report from the House Ethics Committee about the congressman’s use of campaign funds for personal expenses, including X-rated OnlyFans subscriptions, Botox and luxury trips.
“No Congressman has ever been dismissed without conviction; this is a dangerous precedent and I voted no based on my concerns about due process,” House GOP Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (NY) said on X. Getty Images
Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and Clay Higgins (R-La.) expressed solidarity with Santos during a debate on the House floor Thursday afternoon and argued against his removal.
“Whatever Mr. Santos does with Botox or OnlyFans is less of a concern to me than the allegations against the Senator [Bob] Menendez [of New Jersey]who was holding a gold ingot with Arabic inscriptions from Egypt while he was still being briefed today,” Gaetz said in a floor speech.
But Santos’ fellow New York Republicans, who previously pushed for his ouster following a House ethics investigation, argued it was time for the body to set a “new precedent” for impeachment based on ethics violations.
Federal prosecutors accused Rep. George Santos committed campaign money laundering and defrauded donors. Getty Images
“If we have an opportunity in this great institution to start a new precedent that means we hold members of the House of Representatives to a higher standard, ladies and gentlemen, I’m pretty sure the American people will applaud it,” Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (R-NY) said.
D’Esposito had privileged the removal resolution, introduced Nov. 17 by House Ethics Committee Chairman Michael Guest (R-Miss.) following the panel’s investigation, forcing the chamber to take it up by the end of the week.
“As the Ethics Committee report detailed, Mr. Santos has repeatedly, brutally and brazenly violated public trust,” Representative Susan Wild (D-Pa.), a member of the committee, said on the House floor Thursday.
The vote follows a scathing report from the House Ethics Committee about the congressman’s use of campaign funds for personal expenses, including an X-rated OnlyFans subscription. Getty Images
“Mr. Santos is not a victim. He is the perpetrator of a massive fraud against his constituents and the American people.”
The representative from New York’s 3rd Congressional District also faces a 23-count federal indictment for laundering his campaign money and defrauding donors. He pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Santos had anticipated the removal, declaring in a news conference Thursday morning that the lower house would set a terrible precedent in “bullying” him from office before he had his day in court and denouncing the ethics report as “slanderous.”
George Santos faces a 23-count federal indictment for money laundering and fraud. Getty Images “As the Ethics Committee report detailed, Mr. Santos has repeatedly, brutally and brazenly violated public trust,” Rep. Susan Wild (D-Pa.), a member of the committee, also spoke on the House Floor. Getty Images
“They tried to join me in the group of three Confederates and two people who were convicted in a court of law,” he said, citing five previous impeachments in the House’s history.
“So, if I am fired tomorrow, I will be number six in history – the first and only Republican without a conviction or without committing treason,” Santos added.
“[I]f I left, they won,” he said when asked why he chose not to resign before the vote. “If I go, the bully happens – this is bullying.”
George Santos saw his expulsion as a form of bullying. Getty Images
Three House Democrats – former Missouri Reps. John B. Clark and John W. Reid and former Rep. Kentucky Henry C. Burnett – was expelled in 1861 for supporting the Confederate rebellion against the Union.
Pennsylvania Democratic Representative Michael Myers was also voted out of Congress in 1980 after he was filmed accepting bribes from undercover FBI agents as part of the Abscam scandal.
Former Ohio Democratic Representative James Traficant was the last member to be expelled from the House following his 2002 conviction on bribery and corruption charges.
In a last-ditch effort, pols challenging the truth have introduced a resolution to impeach Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) for setting off a false fire alarm in a House office building as Democrats tried to delay the September vote to avoid a government shutdown.
Unlike Santos, Bowman has already pleaded guilty to improperly pulling the alarm and agreed to pay a $1,000 fine through a deal reached with DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb, which will see charges dismissed after three months.
Santos will go to trial on September 9, 2024.
He did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
