New York Republicans Seek to Expel GOP Rep. George Santos

A group of New York Republicans is taking action to expel GOP Representative George Santos from the House. This move comes in the wake of new federal charges against Santos, which include accusations of identity theft and credit card fraud. GOP Representative Anthony D’Esposito announced his intention to introduce an expulsion resolution to remove George Santos from the People’s House. Several other representatives, including Nick LaLota, Mike Lawler, Marc Molinaro, Nick Langworthy, and Brandon Williams, are co-sponsoring this measure.

Earlier this year, George Santos pleaded not guilty to a series of charges from an original indictment. These allegations included an alleged scheme to defraud prospective supporters of his 2022 congressional campaign. The charges unsealed on Tuesday claim that he falsified campaign finance reports and used the personal information of donors for his financial gain. Santos is scheduled to appear in court on October 27 to address these charges.

Under the Constitution, any member of the House can be expelled with a vote of two-thirds of lawmakers. In May, House Republicans blocked a Democratic effort to expel Santos and instead opted to refer the matter to the House Ethics Committee for an investigation.

The U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York unsealed a superseding indictment with ten new charges on Tuesday. Prosecutors allege that Santos and his ex-campaign treasurer, Nancy Marks, submitted false financial reports to the Federal Election Commission, inflating the campaign’s fundraising numbers in an attempt to qualify for certain perks, benefits, and support from Republican Party leaders.

The indictment also includes fresh allegations that Santos used individuals’ personal credit card information to make unauthorized charges in support of his political campaign. These victims, as per the charges, were previous donors to the campaign who had provided their personal information when contributing funds to Santos. In one instance, court documents revealed that Santos allegedly incurred $15,800 in charges on a contributor’s credit card, well above federal campaign law limits. The donor claimed not to have authorized such excessive charges.

Santos vehemently denied these new charges, maintaining his innocence and pledging to fight the accusations. He expressed confusion about the identities of the donors in question and vowed to investigate to determine their identities. He questioned why he would harm the same people who supported his candidacy and explained that he had people on retainer to prevent such issues, promising to pursue vendors and contractors who engaged in misconduct.

Nancy Marks, the ex-treasurer of Santos’s campaign, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud. She admitted to falsely reporting hundreds of thousands in fake loans that Santos had claimed he made to his campaign. She acknowledged including nonexistent donations from his friends and family to inflate his campaign’s fundraising totals, which would qualify him for assistance from a Republican national party committee.

It remains uncertain whether these new charges will alter the balance among Republicans who previously opposed expelling Santos in May. Despite falling out of favor with many New York Republican elected officials, some GOP members of Congress from the Empire State did not sign on to this latest expulsion attempt.

The absence of a permanent House speaker adds further complexity to the proponents of expelling Santos, as House business remains on hold until a new speaker is elected. Republican lawmakers recently nominated Rep. Steve Scalise as their nominee for the role, though his narrow victory over Rep. Jim Jordan suggests a potential lengthy floor battle to reach a majority in the full House.

This article was first published on October 11, 2023, at 1:47 PM.

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