House lawmakers debate over expelling Santos, censuring Tlaib and Greene
FOX News chief congressional correspondent Chad Pergram has more on the House's efforts to punish some of its members and the latest on aid for Israel on 'Special Report.'
The chairman of the House Ethics Committee will move to expel Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., from Congress after the release of a damning report into the embattled Long Island Republican.
"Chairman Guest feels that the evidence uncovered in the Committee’s investigation is more than sufficient to warrant punishment, and that the most appropriate punishment is expulsion," Republican Mississippi Rep. Michael Guest's personal office told Fox News Digital on Thursday.
"So, separate from the Committee process and his role as Chairman, he plans to file an expulsion resolution during tomorrow’s 9:00 am pro forma session."
The ethics committee released a damning report that accused Santos of having "used campaign funds for personal purposes" and "engaged in fraudulent conduct," among other allegations.
Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., is the subject of a damning new ethics committee report. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
FORMER SANTOS CAMPAIGN FUNDRAISER CHARGED WITH WIRE FRAUD, IDENTITY THEFT
Guest filing the resolution on Friday tees up an expected vote on whether to boot Santos from the House sometime after lawmakers return from the Thanksgiving break on Nov. 28.
A 56-page deep dive into the allegations against Santos by the panel's Investigative subcommittee detailed campaign funds being spent at spas and luxury stores, among other questionable places.
The bipartisan subcommittee unanimously agreed that Santos "knowingly caused his campaign committee to file false or incomplete reports with the Federal Election Commission; used campaign funds for personal purposes; engaged in fraudulent conduct in connection with RedStone Strategies LLC; and engaged in knowing and willful violations of the Ethics in Government Act as it relates to his Financial Disclosure (FD) Statements filed with the House."
That includes $50,000 in campaign donations that were wired to Santos' personal account on Oct. 21, 2022, and allegedly used to, among other things, "pay down personal credit card bills and other debt; make a $4,127.80 purchase at Hermes; and for smaller purchases at OnlyFans; Sephora; and for meals and for parking."
Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., appears on the House floor at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 25. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
Santos also spent more than $2,200 at resorts in Atlantic City, New Jersey, from July 23, 2022, to July 24, 2022, according to the report, despite a staffer telling the subcommittee that "he was not aware of any events in Atlantic City and did not attend any campaign events in Atlantic City."
"Likewise, in the same month, the campaign spent $1,400 at Virtual Skin Spa in Jericho, New York, a full-service medical spa based in Long Island that performs cosmetic procedures such as Botox, micro needling and facials," another part of the report said.
Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., holds a miniature American flag that was presented to him as he departs federal court in Central Islip, New York, on June 30, 2023. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)
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Santos posted a lengthy response to the report on X, in which he announced he would not seek re-election in 2024 and accused the House Ethics Committee of bias.
"If there was a single ounce of ETHICS in the ‘Ethics committee’, they would have not released this biased report. The Committee went to extraordinary lengths to smear myself and my legal team about me not being forthcoming (My legal bills suggest otherwise)," Santos wrote. "It is a disgusting politicized smear that shows the depths of how low our federal government has sunk. Everyone who participated in this grave miscarriage of Justice should all be ashamed of themselves."
GOP lawmakers from New York previously moved to expel Santos earlier this month, but the effort failed along bipartisan lines. Most Democrats who said they voted to punt the measure explained they were waiting for the findings of the ethics committee report.
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