The House of Representatives voted to expel scandal-plagued Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., on Friday, making him the first House lawmaker to be expelled in more than 20 years.
Expelling a member of Congress takes a two-thirds majority vote. The last time a House lawmaker was expelled was more than two decades ago, when late former Rep. Jim Traficant, D-Ohio, was voted out of Congress in 2002.
Prior to his ousting, Traficant had been convicted of 10 felony counts, including racketeering and taking bribes.
HOUSE ETHICS COMMITTEE HEAD TO MOVE TO EXPEL GEORGE SANTOS AFTER RELEASE OF DAMNING REPORT
Santos has not been convicted of a crime, but he’s been indicted on 23 counts related to wire fraud, identity theft, falsification of records, credit card fraud, and other charges. He’s been accused of using campaign funds on a number of luxury goods and treatments such as botox. He has pleaded not guilty.
Sentiments within the House GOP on whether to expel Santos appeared split when Republicans emerged from a closed-door conference meeting on Friday morning.
Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., a former chairman of the House Oversight Committee, argued to reporters that expelling Santos now would take away the presumption of innocence he is entitled to. He also referenced Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., who was recently accused of taking bribes from and acting in the interest of Egyptian officials, and the fact that he is not being removed from the Senate.
“He hasn’t been tried either civilly or criminally, and that’s what probably gives me the most pause,” Issa said. “I’ve also become aware that the Republicans on the ethics committee wanted to consider a lesser sanction than removing him, and the three Democrats were not willing to consider anything except the expulsion.”
The House Ethics Committee declined to comment on the statement.
Meanwhile, others, chiefly the New York Republican delegation Santos is part of, maintained there was more than enough evidence to expel him.
“I believe as I’ve stated that George Santos has committed crimes. He’s defrauded voters, taxpayers and donors. And we have established, through a comprehensive investigation, the standard by which he should be expelled,” Rep. Marc Molinaro, R-N.Y., told reporters.
“I just hope that my colleagues see through any distortion and see that we have an individual who is divorced from reality, who has committed crimes, is a con man and will continue to behave in the way he has and has met the threshold not to serve the house.”
Santos himself said he expected to be expelled from Congress during a Friday morning interview on “Fox & Friends.”
