House Ethics Committee head to move to expel George Santos after release of damning report
Fox News
The chairman of the House Ethics Committee will move to expel Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., from Congress after the release of a damning report into the embattled Long Island Republican.
“Chairman Guest feels that the evidence uncovered in the Committee’s investigation is more than sufficient to warrant punishment, and that the most appropriate punishment is expulsion,” Republican Mississippi Rep. Michael Guest’s personal office told Fox News Digital on Thursday.
“So, separate from the Committee process and his role as Chairman, he plans to file an expulsion resolution during tomorrow’s 9:00 am pro forma session.”
The ethics committee released a damning report that accused Santos of having “used campaign funds for personal purposes” and “engaged in fraudulent conduct,” among other allegations.
FORMER SANTOS CAMPAIGN FUNDRAISER CHARGED WITH WIRE FRAUD, IDENTITY THEFT
Guest filing the resolution on Friday tees up an expected vote on whether to boot Santos from the House sometime after lawmakers return from the Thanksgiving break on Nov. 28.
A 56-page deep dive into the allegations against Santos by the panel’s Investigative subcommittee detailed campaign funds being spent at spas and luxury stores, among other questionable places.
The bipartisan subcommittee unanimously agreed that Santos “knowingly caused his campaign committee to file false or incomplete reports with the Federal Election Commission; used campaign funds for personal purposes; engaged in fraudulent conduct in connection with RedStone Strategies LLC; and engaged in knowing and willful violations of the Ethics in Government Act as it relates to his Financial Disclosure (FD) Statements filed with the House.”
That includes $50,000 in campaign donations that were wired to Santos’ personal account on Oct. 21, 2022 and allegedly used to, among other things, “pay down personal credit card bills and other debt; make a $4,127.80 purchase at Hermes; and for smaller purchases at OnlyFans; Sephora; and for meals and for parking.”
Santos also spent more than $2,200 at resorts in Atlantic City, New Jersey, from July 23, 2022, to July 24, 2022, according to the report, despite a staffer telling the subcommittee that “he was not aware of any events in Atlantic City and did not attend any campaign events in Atlantic City.”
“Likewise, in the same month, the campaign spent $1,400 at Virtual Skin Spa in Jericho, New York, a full-service medical spa based in Long Island that performs cosmetic procedures such as Botox, micro needling and facials,” another part of the report said.
GOP lawmakers from New York previously moved to expel Santos earlier this month, but the effort failed along bipartisan lines. Most Democrats who said they voted to punt the measure explained they were waiting for the findings of the ethics committee report.
Santos has not yet publicly commented on the report.