Source: The Washington Post / Getty
GOP Congressman George Santos has survived a vote to expel him from the House of Representatives over allegations of criminal actions.
On Wednesday (November 1), Congressman George Santos from New York faced a vote of expulsion from the House of Representatives as a House Ethics Committee investigation into his affairs along with a criminal trial of Santos allegedly defrauding donors’ credit cards and inflating campaign finance reports in his home state. Santos faces 23 federal charges. The vote’s final tally was 179 for expulsion and 213 against, with 19 stating they were “present” and 22 not voting, making it short of the two-thirds needed to kick Santos out.
The vote was the second time that George Santos faced expulsion. The previous vote resolution was introduced by Democrats, and Republicans had all voted unanimously against it. This time, the resolution to expel was brought by New York GOP Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, along with Reps. Nick LaLota and Mike Lawler. They stood with D’Esposito as he forced the vote on the House Floor. “New Yorkers from Queens and Nassau Counties deserve better than George Santos — a total fraud and serial liar representing them in Congress,” LaLota stated.
31 Democrats sided with Republicans against Santos’ expulsion. Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland cited that the House of Representatives has only done so five times in its history for those criminally convicted as the reason behind his vote. “This would be a terrible precedent to set, expelling people who have not been convicted of a crime and without internal due process,” he said after the vote. “It’s a very risky road to go down and we have to stick by due process and the rule of law, as obvious as the eventual result seems.” Representative Jim Himes of Connecticut explained his vote in a post on X, formerly Twitter, writing: “Neither the Ethics Committee nor the courts have finished adjudicating this. In this country, one is presumed innocent until PROVEN guilty. No exceptions.”
https://x.com/jahimes/status/1719865741611262075?s=20
Santos issued a statement on Thursday (November 2) defending himself. “Despite facing opposition and calls for my expulsion, I remain steadfast in my commitment to serving my constituents and upholding conservative ideals.” he wrote. Another House member, Rep. Marc Molinaro of New York suggested Santos is not out of the woods. “I suspect the report is going to come public soon, and it’s going to be clear that he should be removed from Congress,” he said afterward.
