Shady George Santos, the Republican Rep. from New York whose repeated lies have been a cringe-worthy embarrassment to the GOP, is remaining defiant in the face of his expected expulsion from Congress.
“I don’t care,” he told journalist Monica Matthews in a lengthy X Spaces interview. “You want to expel me? I’ll wear it like a badge of honor.”
— Monica Matthews On Air (@monicaonairtalk) November 25, 2023
As BizPac Review reported, Rep. Michael Guest (R-Miss.) chairman of the House Ethics Committee, recently filed a resolution to expel Santos in the wake of a damning ethics report “found that Santos used campaign cash for “personal uses” and “knowingly” committed fraud, all while misrepresenting his resume to constituents, voters, and staff.”
The resolution, which argues Santos “is not fit to serve as a Member of the United States House of Representatives,” will be taken up following Congress’ Thanksgiving recess.
Speaking with Matthews, Santos played the “whatabout” game and slammed his colleagues for what he claims is their bad behavior.
“I have colleagues who are more worried about getting drunk every night with the next lobbyist that they’re gonna screw and pretend like none of us know what’s going on, and sell off the American people, not show up to vote because they’re too hungover or whatever the reason is, or not show up to vote at all and just give their card out like f–king candy for someone else to vote for them,” he stated.
“I’ll be the sixth expelled member of Congress in the history of Congress,” Santos said. “And guess what? I’ll be the only one expelled without a conviction.”
He is “going to get expelled when this expulsion resolution goes to the floor,” Santos added, “… I’ve done the math over and over, and it doesn’t look really good.”
“The evidence uncovered in the Ethics Committee’s Investigative Subcommittee investigation is more than sufficient to warrant punishment and the most appropriate punishment, is expulsion,” Guest said in a statement following the release of his committee’s report. “So, separate from the Committee process and my role as Chairman, I have filed an expulsion resolution.”
According to the ethics report, 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.”
The lawmaker “blatantly stole from his campaign,” “deceived donors,” “reported fictitious loans” and conducted “fraudulent or otherwise questionable business dealings,” according to the findings.
According to the New York Post, “the congressman spent campaign cash on botox, OnlyFans and other personal expenses.”
As The Hill reports:
Santos was indicted on 13 federal charges in May 2023, and in October, a superseding indictment brought another 10 criminal counts against Santos, bringing the total to 23.
Santos was charged on seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds and two counts of making materially false statements to the House. The other indictment charged him with one count of conspiracy to commit offenses against the U.S., two counts of wire fraud, two counts of making materially false statements to the Federal Election Commission, two counts of falsifying records submitted to obstruct the FEC, two counts of aggravated identity theft and one count of access device fraud.
Santos has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Following the release of the report, Santos took to X and trashed the “politicized smear.”
“If there was a single ounce of ETHICS in the ‘Ethics committee’, they would have not released this biased report,” he stated. “The Committee went to extraordinary lengths to smear myself and my legal team about me not being forthcoming (My legal bills suggest otherwise).”
“It is a disgusting politicized smear that shows the depths of how low our federal government has sunk,” he continued. “Everyone who participated in this grave miscarriage of Justice should all be ashamed of themselves.”
As a result of his perceived persecution, Santos essentially said that he would be taking his ball and going home.
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).
It is a disgusting…
— George Santos (@MrSantosNY) November 16, 2023
“I’ve come to expect vitriol like this from political opposition but not from the hallowed halls of public service,” he fumed. “I will remain steadfast in fighting for my rights and for defending my name in the face of adversity. I am humbled yet again and reminded that I am human and I have flaws, but I will not stand by as I am stoned by those who have flaws themselves.”
“I will continue on my mission to serve my constituents up until I am allowed,” Santos said. “I will however NOT be seeking re-election for a second term in 2024 as my family deserves better than to be under the gun from the press all the time.”
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