House Ethics Committee Chairman Michael Guest (R-MS) has filed a resolution to expel Rep. George Santos (R-NY), a highly unusual step signifying Republican readiness to expel Santos after accusations he used campaign funds for botox treatments, OnlyFans, and lodging in Atlantic City and Las Vegas.
“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 Friday. “So, separate from the Committee process and my role as Chairman, I have filed an expulsion resolution.”
The scathing report issued Thursday by the committee accused Santos of using campaign funds for botox treatments, OnlyFans, and lodging in Atlantic City and Las Vegas.
The ten committee members, split evenly between Republicans and Democrats, voted unanimously to refer to the Department of Justice their findings containing “substantial evidence that Representative 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 report also accuses Santos of “obfuscation and delay” and a “lack of candor during the investigation itself.”
Santos announced Thursday after the report’s release that he would not run for reelection.
The Congressman survived an effort earlier this month to expel him. But the report’s release gives members political cover to change their votes.
One Democrat who voted earlier against expelling Santos, Rep. Jeff Jackson (D-NC), said Santos “has received his due process. This report is fully damning. I will vote to expel him.”
Congress last expelled a member in 2002–the late Rep. Jim Traficant (D-OH). Like Santos, Traficant was a colorful personality who had become somewhat of a pariah among his colleagues after accusations of improprieties and crimes.
Yet Traficant was expelled only after he was convicted. Santos is unlikely to receive the same consideration.
Correction: This article has been corrected to reflect that Jim Traficant was a Democrat.
Follow Bradley Jaye on Twitter at @BradleyAJaye.
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