House Republicans Seek To Expel Rep. George Santos After Latest Indictment

Rep. George Santos (R-New York) is facing threats of expulsion from Congress after a group of House Republicans introduced a resolution against him Wednesday, calling him a “fraudster.”

The development comes after Santos was charged with conspiracy, wire fraud, false statements, falsification of records, identity theft and credit card fraud by a New York prosecutor on Tuesday.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, the congressman was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit offenses against the United States, two counts of wire fraud, two counts of making materially false statements to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), two counts of falsifying records filed to obstruct the FEC, two counts of aggravated identity theft, and one count of access device fraud. He also faces seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds and two counts of making materially inaccurate statements to the House of Representatives that were included in the original indictment.

On Wednesday, Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (R-New York) announced that he would introduce an expulsion resolution against his colleague. “Today, I’ll be introducing an expulsion resolution to rid the People’s House of fraudster George Santos,” he said. He went on to declare Santos “a stain” on the House and on New York state. “It’s time that we move on from George Santos,” he added.

D’Esposito’s fellow Republicans, Reps. Nick LaLota, Mike Lawler, Marc Molinaro, Nick Langworthy, and Brandon Williams are co-sponsors of this resolution.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) New York Field Office’s Assistant Director-in-charge, James Smith, said that Santos allegedly led multiple additional fraudulent criminal schemes and misled the American public in the process.

“The FBI is committed to upholding the laws of our electoral process. Anyone who attempts to violate the law as part of a political campaign will face punishment in the criminal justice system,” he added.

Meanwhile, Santos has denied the allegations and said he would seek reelection. Responding to his colleagues’ attempts to remove him from Congress, Santos said, “If they want to silence 700,000 people, that’s on them. They want to be judge, jury, and arbitrator of the whole godd— thing? Let them do it.”

Article by Maria Fox