Removing George Santos from Congress was a mistake, according to former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who will retire from the chamber later this year.
“I would lean toward some other punishment for him,” said McCarthy, who was out of town during Santos’ Dec. 1 ouster and did not cast a vote.
The disgraced Long Island cop should be able to “get his day in court” before the House of Representatives takes action, McCarthy added.
Criticism – like the one recently given to Rep. Jamaal Bowman for illegally pulling the House fire alarm — is more appropriate, the California Republican said.
The former speaker, now on a farewell media tour, said he had received congratulatory calls and messages from world leaders and high-powered CEOs. But one person he hasn’t heard from is his successor, current Speaker Mike Johnson.
“He didn’t ask for advice,” McCarthy said. “I write notes for whoever is the speaker and leave them there with some advice.
Former Speaker of the House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy said the impeachment of George Santos was a mistake. Getty Images Former Speaker of the State Assembly Kevin McCarthy takes a final bow on his way out the door. Getty Images McCarthy said he doesn’t know what the future holds but is open to many possibilities. Getty Images
“He’s been at the dinner table with me for a long time, he knows what to do,” said McCarthy, who declined to reveal the contents of his letter. “My job is to help him succeed in any way I can.”
One person McCarthy won’t miss is his old House foe, Rep. Matt Gaetz. The outgoing speaker has spent weeks on the warpath against the Florida firebrand.
McCarthy has focused on the House Ethics Committee’s ongoing investigation into Gaetz, which has dragged on since 2021. Last week, the committee subpoenaed new witnesses to schedule interviews, suggesting the investigation is still alive through 2024, CNN reported.
Speaker Mike Johnson will face a difficult task in 2024 to unite his divided colleagues. AP
Gaetz faces a years-long federal sex-trafficking investigation by the Justice Department, which said in February it would not bring any charges against him.
McCarthy warned that the Ethics Committee would not be so generous.
“He didn’t want anything that was in the ethics complaint to come forward,” McCarthy said, insisting the root of Gaetz’s animosity toward him was the mistaken view that he was responsible for instigating the investigation. “He is willing to destroy the Congress if that is what it takes. So it must be something very serious and it looks more serious than anything Santos [did].”
McCarthy said he believed the committee would expose “criminal behavior” assuming “no deal was made” with Speaker Johnson to try and bury it.
McCarthy warned that his old enemy Rep. Matt Gaetz will soon have big problems of his own. ZUMAPRESS.com
Reaching for an answer, Gaetz offered his “thoughts and prayers to the former congressman.”
McCarthy said he has no regrets about how his last months in Congress went down and believes next year former President Trump will retake the White House and Republicans will expand their House majority.
“Joe Biden is not the same Joe Biden that I knew and worked with when he was vice president,” McCarthy said. “And if we were to think of this as a corporation or anything else, he wouldn’t be running to be our president.”
The former Speaker said he’s looking forward to whatever the future holds, and dismissed reports he might go to work for Elon Musk as “kind of crazy.”
“My background has always been business. I have an MBA and I love entrepreneurship, so I’ll probably do something in the business world,” McCarthy said.
Categories: Trending
Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
