What to Know
- A group of fellow New York Republicans in the House of Representatives is moving to expel embattled U.S. Rep. George Santos from Congress.
- Rep. Anthony D'Esposito, who represents a Long Island district as well, will put forth a motion to out Santos from the legislative body, he posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. The motion will be co-sponsored by five fellow freshman Republicans from the state: Rep. Mike Lawler, Rep. Nick LaLota, Rep. Marc Molinaro, Rep. Nick Langworthy and Rep. Brandon Williams.
- It comes a day after a 23-count indictment replaced one filed earlier against the New York Republican charging him with embezzling money from his campaign and lying to Congress about his wealth, among other offenses
A group of fellow New York Republicans in the House of Representatives is moving to expel embattled U.S. Rep. George Santos from Congress.
Rep. Anthony D'Esposito, who represents a Long Island district as well, will put forth a motion to out Santos from the legislative body, he posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
"Today, I’ll be introducing an expulsion resolution to rid the People’s House of fraudster, George Santos," D'Esposito said in the social media post.
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He said the motion will be co-sponsored by five fellow freshman Republicans from the state: Rep. Mike Lawler, Rep. Nick LaLota, Rep. Marc Molinaro, Rep. Nick Langworthy and Rep. Brandon Williams.
D'Esposito said to reporters on Wednesday that Santos was "a stain" on the House and on New York state.
"It's time that we move on from George Santos," he said.
LaLota echoed those claims, calling Santos an "immoral" and "untrustworthy" person, and adding that "The sooner he's gone, the better."
The resolution comes less than a year after Santos was elected to represent New York's 3rd District, comprised of northern Nassau County and stretching into northeastern Queens. In order to expel Santos, two-thirds of the House of Representatives would have to vote in favor of the motion.
Democrats in the House tried to previously expel Santos in the spring after the initial charges came out, but Republicans voted to refer the motion to the House Ethics Committee, which has been investigating Santos since March.
Santos responded to resolution as he ran to his office from a Republican conference meeting.
“If they want to be judge, jury and arbitrator of the whole God damn thing let them do it,” Santos said, adding later "they just want to silence the people of the 3rd congressional district."
It also comes a day after a new indictment filed Tuesday charged Santos with stealing the identities of donors to his campaign and then using their credit cards to ring up tens of thousands of dollars in unauthorized charges. Prosecutors said some of that stolen money ended up in his own bank account.
The 23-count indictment replaces one filed earlier against the New York Republican charging him with embezzling money from his campaign and lying to Congress about his wealth, among other offenses.
The new charges include allegations that he charged more than $44,000 to his campaign over a period of months using cards belonging to contributors without their knowledge. In one case, he charged $12,000 to a contributor’s credit card and transferred the “vast majority” of that money into his personal bank account, prosecutors said.
Santos is also accused of falsely reporting to the Federal Elections Commission that he had loaned $500,000 to his campaign in an attempt to convince Republican Party officials that he was a serious candidate, when he actually had less than $8,000 in his personal accounts.
“As alleged, Santos is charged with stealing people’s identities and making charges on his own donors’ credit cards without their authorization, lying to the FEC and, by extension, the public about the financial state of his campaign,” U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement.
Santos has previously denied defrauding anyone, having called the charges against him a “witch hunt” and vowed not to resign.
The new charges deepen the legal peril for Santos, who likely faces a lengthy prison term if convicted. So far, he has resisted all calls to resign, insisting he intends to run for reelection next year.
Santos’ personal and professional biography as a wealthy businessman began to unravel just weeks after winning election in 2022, revealing a tangled web of deception.
In addition to lying to voters — about his distinguished Wall Street background, Jewish heritage, academic and athletic achievements, animal rescue work, real estate holdings and more — Santos is accused of carrying out numerous fraud schemes meant to enrich himself and mislead his donors.
